THE WORKS

OF

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

EDMUND BURKE

IN TWELVE VOLUMES

VOLUME THE TWELFTH

[Illustration: Burke Coat of Arms. ]

LONDONJOHN C. NIMMO14, 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 ofour charge, and of the prisoner's attempts to defend himself against it. 

Mr. Hastings, well knowing (what your Lordships must also by this timebe perfectly satisfied was the case) that this unfortunate Nabob had nowill of his own, draws down his poor victim to Chunar by an order toattend the Governor-General. If the Nabob ever wrote to Mr. Hastings, expressing a request or desire for this meeting, his letter wasunquestionably dictated to him by the prisoner. We have laid a ground ofdirect proof before you, that the Nabob's being at Chunar, that hisproceedings there, and that all his acts were so dictated, andconsequently must be so construed. 

I shall now proceed to lay before your Lordships the acts of oppressioncommitted by Mr. Hastings through his two miserable instruments: theone, his passive instrument, the Nabob; the other, Mr. Middleton, hisactive instrument, in his subsequent plans for the entire destruction ofthat country. In page 513 of the printed Minutes you have Mr. Middleton's declaration of his promptitude to represent everythingagreeably 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 thesubject, there is also another much more clear upon your Lordships'minutes, much more distinct and much more pointed, expressive of hisbeing resolved to make such representations of every matter as theGovernor-General may wish. Now a man who is master of the manner inwhich facts are represented, and whose subsequent conduct is to bejustified by such representations, is not simply accountable for hisconduct; he is accountable for culpably attempting to form, on falsepremises, the judgment of others upon that conduct. This species ofdelinquency must therefore be added to the rest; and I wish yourLordships to carry generally in your minds, that there is not one singlesyllable of representation made by any of those parties, except wheretruth may happen to break out in spite of all the means of concealment, which is not to be considered as the representation of Mr. Hastingshimself in justification of his own conduct. 

The letter which I have just now read was written preparatory to thetransaction which I am now going to state, called _the treaty ofChunar_. Having brought his miserable victim thither, he forced him tosign a paper called a treaty: but such was the fraud in every part ofthis treaty, that Mr. Middleton himself, who was the instrument and thechief agent in it, acknowledges that the Nabob was persuaded to sign itby the assurance given to him that it never was to be executed. Here, then, your Lordships have a prince first compelled to enter into anegotiation, and then induced to accede to a treaty by false assurancesthat it should not be executed, which he declares nothing but forceshould otherwise have compelled him to accede to. 

The first circumstance in this transaction that I shall lay before yourLordships is that the treaty is declared to have for its objects twomodes of relieving the Nabob from his distresses, --from distresses whichwe have stated, and which Mr. Hastings has not only fully admitted, buthas himself proved in the clearest manner to your Lordships. The firstwas by taking away that _wicked rabble_, the British troops, representedby Mr. Hastings as totally ruinous to the Nabob's affairs, andparticularly by removing that part of them which was called the newbrigade. Another remedial part of the treaty regarded the Britishpensioners. It is in proof before your Lordships that Mr. Hastingsagreed to recall from Oude that body of pensioners, whose conduct thereis described in such strong terms as being ruinous to the Vizier and toall his affairs. These pensioners Mr. Hastings engaged to recall; but henever did recall them. We refer your Lordships to the evidence beforeyou, in proof that these odious pensioners, so distressing to the Nabob, so ruinous to his affairs, and so disgraceful to our government, werenot only _not_ recalled by Mr. Hastings, but that, both afterwards, andupon the very day of signing the treaty, (as Mr. Middleton himself tellsyou, ) upon that very day, I say, he recommended to the Nabob that thesepensioners might remain upon that very establishment which, by a solemntreaty of his own making and his own dictating, he had agreed torelieve 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 forthe Company's use. He had ravaged the country, without obtaining anybenefit for his masters: the British soldiers having divided the onlyspoil, and nothing remaining for the share of his employers butdisgrace. He was therefore afraid to return without having something ofa lucrative pecuniary nature to exhibit to the Company. Having thisobject in view, Oude appears to have first presented itself to hisnotice, as a country from which some advantage of a pecuniary kind mightbe derived; and accordingly he turned in his head a vast variety ofstratagems for effecting his purpose. 

The first article that occurs in the treaty of Chunar is a power givento the Nabob to resume all the jaghires not guarantied by the Company, and to give pensions to all those persons who should be removed fromtheir jaghires. 

Now the first thing which would naturally occur to a man, who was goingto raise a revenue through the intervention of the prince of thecountry, would be to recommend to that prince a better economy in hisaffairs, and a rational and equal assessment upon his subjects, in orderto 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 tothe rules and orders of good government, that there is no way by which aprince can justly assess his subjects but by assessing them all inproportion to their respective abilities, and that, if a prince shouldmake such a body as the House of Lords in this kingdom (which comesnear 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 justtaxation in any country in the universe. Some men may possibly, bylocality or privileges, be excepted from certain taxes, but no taxationever can be just that is thrown upon some particular class only; and ifthat class happen to be small and the demand great, the injustice doneis directly proportionable to the greatness of the exaction, andinversely to the number of the persons who are the objects of it: theseare clear, irrefragable, and eternal principles. But if, instead ofexacting a part by a proportionable rate, the prince should go furtherand attempt to shake the whole mass of property itself, a mass perhapsnot much less than that which is possessed by the whole peers of GreatBritain, by confiscating the whole of the estates at once, as agovernment resource, without the charge or pretence of any crime, I saythat such an act would be oppressive, cruel, and wicked in the highestdegree. Yet this is what Mr. Hastings projected, and actually didaccomplish. 

My Lords, at the treaty of Chunar, as it is called, Mr. Hastings (for healways artfully feels his way as he proceeds) first says, that the Nabobshall be permitted to do this act, if he pleases. He does not assume thegovernment. He does not compel the Nabob to do anything. He does notforce upon him this abandoned and wicked confiscation of the property ofthe whole nobility of a great country. All that he says is this, --"TheNabob _may be permitted_ to resume these jaghires. " Why permitted? Ifthe act had been legal, proper, and justifiable, he did not want ourpermission; he was a sovereign in his own dominions. But Mr. Hastingsrecollected that some of these jaghires (as they are called, and onwhich I shall say a very few words to your Lordships) were guarantied bythe Company. The jaghires of his own house, of his mother andgrandmother, were guarantied by us. I must inform your Lordships, that, upon some of our other exactions at an earlier period, the Nabob hadendeavored to levy a forced loan upon the jaghiredars. This forced loanwas made and submitted to by those people upon a direct assurance oftheir rights in the jaghires, which right was guarantied by the BritishResident, 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 ofthese jaghires. The jaghiredars, the holders of jaghires, form the bodyof the principal Mahometan nobility. The great nobility of that countryare divided into two parts. One part consists of the zemindars, who arethe ancient proprietors of land, and the hereditary nobility of thecountry: these are mostly Gentoos. The Mahometans form the other part, whose whole interest in the land consists in the jaghires: for very fewindeed of them are zemindars anywhere, in some of the provinces none ofthem are so; the whole of them are jaghiredars. 

We have heard, my Lords, much discussion about jaghires. It is in proofbefore your Lordships that they are of two sorts: that a jaghiresignifies exactly what the word _fee_ does in the English language, or_feodum_ in the barbarous Latin of the Feudists; that it is a word whichsignifies a salary or a maintenance, as did originally the English word_fee_, derived from the word _feod_ and _feodum_. These jaghires, likeother fees and like other feods, were given in land, as a maintenance:some with the condition of service, some without any condition; somewere annexed to an office, some were granted as the support of adignity, and none were granted for a less term than life, except thosethat were immediately annexed to a lease. We have shown your Lordships(and in this we have followed the example of Mr. Hastings) that some ofthem are fees granted actually in perpetuity; and in fact many of themare so granted. We are farther to tell your Lordships, that by thecustom of the empire they are almost all grown, as the feods in Europeare grown, by use, into something which is at least virtually aninheritance. 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 ofwhich the Nabob is the head: a prince whose family, both by father andmother, notwithstanding the slander of the prisoner against hisbenefactor, was undoubtedly of the first and most distinguished nobilityof the Mahometan empire. Accordingly, his uncles, all his nearrelations, his mother, grandmother, all possessed jaghires, some of verylong standing, and most of them not given by the Nabob. 

I take some pains in explaining this business, because I trust yourLordships will have a strong feeling against any confiscation for thepurpose of revenue. Believe me, my Lords, if there is anything whichwill root the present order of things out of Europe, it will begin, aswe see it has already begun in a neighboring country, by confiscating, for the purposes of the state, grants made to classes of men, let thembe held by what names or be supposed susceptible of what abuses soever. I will venture to say that Jacobinism never can strike a more deadlyblow against property, rank, and dignity than your Lordships, if youwere to acquit this man, would strike against your own dignity, and thevery being of the society in which we live. 

Your Lordships will find in your printed Minutes who the jaghiredarswere, and what was the amount of their estates. The jaghires of whichMr. Hastings authorized the confiscation, or what he calls a_resumption_, appear from Mr. Purling's account, when first the forcedloan was levied upon them under his Residentship, to amount to285, 000_l. _ sterling per annum; which 285, 000_l. _, if rated and valuedaccording to the different value of provisions and other necessaries oflife in that country and in England, will amount, as near as may be, toabout 600, 000_l. _ a year. I am within compass. Everybody conversant withIndia will say it is equivalent at least to 600, 000_l. _ a year inEngland; and what a blow such a confiscation as this would be on thefortunes of the peers of Great Britain your Lordships will judge. I liketo see your estates as great as they are; I wish they were greater thanthey are; but whatever they are, I wish, above all that they should beperpetual. For dignity and property in this country, _Esto perpetua_shall be my prayer this day, and the last prayer of my life. TheCommons, therefore, of Great Britain, those guardians of property, whowill 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 andstatutes of this kingdom prescribe, will not suffer, nor can they bearthe idea, that any single class of people should be chosen to be theobjects of a contrary conduct, nor that even the Nabob of Oude should bepermitted to act upon such a flagitious principle. When an Englishgovernor has substituted a power of his own instead of the legalgovernment of the country, as I have proved this man to have done, if hefound the prince going to do an act which would shake the property ofall the nobility of the country, he surely ought to raise his hand andsay, "You shall not make my name your sanction for such an atrocious andabominable act as this confiscation would be. "

Mr. Hastings, however, whilst he gives, with an urbanity for which he isso much praised, his consent to this confiscation, adds, there must bepensions secured for all persons losing their estates, who had thesecurity of our guaranty. Your Lordships know that Mr. Hastings, by hisguaranty, had secured their jaghires to the Nabob's own relations andfamily. One would have imagined, that, if the estates of those who werewithout any security were to be confiscated at his pleasure, those atleast who were guarantied by the Company, such as the Begums of Oude andseveral of the principal nobility of the Nabob's family, would have beensecure. He, indeed, says that pensions shall be given them; for at thistime he had not got the length of violating, without shame or remorse, all the guaranties of the Company. "There shall, " says he, "be pensionsgiven. " 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 conceivethat such a measure will render these persons miserable dependantsinstead of independent nobility; but I cannot conceive what financialobject can be answered by paying that in pension which you are toreceive in revenue. This is directly contrary to financial economy. Forwhen you stipulate to pay out of the treasury of government a certainpension, and take upon you the receipts of an estate, you adopt ameasure by which government is almost sure of being a loser. You chargeit with a certain fixed sum, and, even upon a supposition that under themanagement of the public the estate will be as productive as it wasunder the management of its private owner, (a thing highly improbable, )you take your chance of a reimbursement subject to all the extraexpense, and to all the accidents that may happen to a public revenue. This confiscation could not, therefore, be justified as a measure ofeconomy; it must have been designed merely for the sake of shaking anddestroying the property of the country. 

The whole transaction, my Lords, was an act of gross violence, usheredin by a gross fraud. It appears that no pensions were ever intended tobe paid; and this you will naturally guess would be the event, when sucha strange metamorphosis was to be made as that of turning a great landedinterest into a pensionary payment. As it could answer no other purpose, so it could be intended for no other, than that of getting possession ofthese jaghires by fraud. This man, my Lords, cannot commit a robberywithout indulging himself at the same time in the practice of hisfavorite arts of fraud and falsehood. 

And here I must again remind your Lordships, that at the time of thetreaty of Chunar the jaghires were held in the following manner. Of the285, 000_l. _ a year which was to be confiscated, the old grants of SujahDowlah, [and?] the grandfather of the Nabob, amounted to near two thirdsof the whole, as you will find in the paper to which we refer you. Bythis 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 byhis father upon his mother, and by his father's father upon hisgrandmother, and upon Salar Jung, his uncle, or were the property of themost considerable nobility, to the gross amount of 285, 000_l. _ Mr. Hastings confesses that the Nabob reluctantly made the confiscation tothe extent proposed. Why? "Because, " says he, "the orderlies, namely, certain persons so called, subservient to his debaucheries, were personswhom he wished to spare. " Now I am to show you that this man, whateverfaults he may have in his private morals, (with which we have nothing atall to do, ) has been slandered throughout by Mr. Hastings. Take his ownaccount of the matter. "The Nabob, " says he, "would have confiscated allthe 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 sacrificethe good, and at the same time to punish the bad. " Now compare theaccount 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 thedeserving; while Mr. Hastings, to effect the inclusion of the worthlessin the confiscation, confiscates the jaghires of the innocent and thevirtuous men of high rank, and of those who had all the ties of Natureto plead for the Nabob's forbearance, and reduced them to a state ofdependency and degradation. 

Now, supposing these two villanous plans, neither of which yourLordships can bear to hear the sound of, to stand equal in point ofmorality, let us see how they stand in point of calculation. Theunexceptionable 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 themost 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 occasionhe has confiscated 260, 000_l. _ a year, the property of innocent, if notof meritorious individuals, in order to punish by confiscation those whohad 25, 000_l. _ a year only. This is the account he gives you himself ofhis honor, his justice, and his policy in these proceedings. 

But, my Lords, he shall not escape so. It is in your minutes, that sofar 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 theresumption was proposed, he was perfectly willing to give up every oneof them, and desired only that his mother, his uncles, and hisrelations, with other individuals, the prime of the Mahometan nobilityof that country, should be spared. Is it not enough that this poorNabob, this wretched prince, is made a slave to the man now standing atyour 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 havefaults and crimes attributed to him that do not belong to him? I knownothing of his private character and conduct: Mr. Hastings, who deals inscandalous anecdotes, knows them: but I take it upon the face of Mr. Purling's assertion, and I say, that the Nabob would have consented toan arbitrary taxation of the jaghires, and would have given up toabsolute confiscation every man except those honorable persons I havementioned. 

The prisoner himself has called Mr. Wombwell to prove the names of thoseinfamous persons with a partiality for whom Mr. Hastings has aspersedthe 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 thesesix, we find that their jaghires were perfectly contemptible. The listof the other jaghiredars, your Lordships see, fills up pages; and theamount of their incomes I have already stated. Your Lordships now seehow inconsiderable, both in number and amount, were the culpablejaghires, in the destruction of which he has involved the greater numberand the meritorious. You see that the Nabob never did propose anyexemption of the former at any time; that this was a slander and acalumny on that unhappy man, in order to defend the violent acts of theprisoner, who has recourse to slander and calumny as a proper way todefend violence, outrage, and wrongs. 

We have now gone through the first stage of Mr. Hastings's confiscationof the estates of these unhappy people. When it came to be put inexecution, Mr. Middleton finds the Nabob reluctant in the greatestdegree to make this sacrifice of his family and of all his nobility. Ittouched 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 ofChunar upon an assurance that it was never meant to be put in force. "Mr. Middleton nevertheless proceeds; he sends the family of the Nabobout of the country; but he entertains fears of a general revolt as theconsequence of this tyrannical act, and refers the case back to Mr. Hastings, who insists upon its being executed in its utmost extent. TheNabob again remonstrates in the strongest manner; he begs, he prays, hedissembles, he delays. One day he pretends to be willing to submit, thenext he hangs back, just as the violence of Mr. Hastings or his ownnatural feelings and principles of justice dragged him one way ordragged 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 tousurp the Nabob's government. He usurped it openly and avowedly. Hedeclared that he himself would issue his purwannahs as governor of thecountry, for the purpose of executing this abominable confiscation. Heassumed, I say, to himself the government of the country, and Mr. Hastings had armed him with a strong military force for that purpose; hedeclared he would order those troops to march for his support; he atlast got this reluctant, struggling Nabob to consent in the manner wehave described. 

I shall now read to your Lordships Mr. Middleton's letters, that you mayhear these men with their own mouths describing their own acts, and thatyour Lordships may then judge whether the highest tone and language ofcrimination 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 Khân'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 theproposition himself, was dragged to the signature of it; and that thetroops which are supposed, and fraudulently stated, (and I wish yourLordships particularly to observe this, ) to have been sent to assisthim in this measure, were considered by him as a body of troops sent toimprison him, and to free him from all the troubles and pains ofgovernment. 

When Mr. Hastings sent the troops for the purpose, as he pretended, ofassisting the Nabob in the execution of a measure which was reallyadopted in direct opposition to the wishes of that prince, what otherconclusion could be drawn, but that they were sent to overawe, not toassist him? The march of alien troops into a country upon that occasioncould have no object but hostility; they could have been sent with noother design but that of bringing disgrace upon the Nabob, by making himthe instrument of his family's ruin, and of the destruction of hisnobility. Your Lordships, therefore, will not wonder that this miserableman should have sunk into despair, and that he should have felt theweight of his oppression doubly aggravated by its coming from such a manas 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 knowa greater insult that can be offered to a man born to command than tofind himself made the tool of a set of obscure men, come from an unknowncountry, without anything to distinguish them but an usurped power. Never shall I, out of compliment to any persons, because they happen tobe my own countrymen, disguise my feelings, or renounce the dictates ofNature and of humanity. If we send out obscure people, unknowing andunknown, to exercise such acts as these, I must say it is a bitteraggravation of the victim's suffering. Oppression and robbery are at alltimes evils; but they are more bearable, when exercised by persons whomwe have been habituated to regard with awe, and to whom mankind for ageshave been accustomed to bow. 

Now does the history of tyranny furnish, does the history of popularviolence deposing kings furnish, anything like the dreadful depositionof this prince, and the cruel and abominable tyranny that has beenexercised over him? Consider, too, my Lords, for what object all thiswas done. Was Mr. Hastings endeavoring, by his arbitrary interferenceand the use of his superior power, to screen a people from theusurpation and power of a tyrant, --from any strong and violent actsagainst property, against dignity, against nobility, against the freedomof his people? No: you see here a monarch deposed, in effect, by personspretending to be his allies, and assigning what are pretended to be hiswishes as the motive for using his usurped authority in the execution ofthese acts of violence against his own family and his subjects. You seehim struggling against this violent prostitution of his authority. Herefuses 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 aninstrument of wrong which his soul abhors, and which would make himinfamous throughout the world. Mr. Middleton, however, assumes thesovereignty of the country. "I, " he says, "am Nabob of Oude: thejaghires shall be confiscated: I have given my orders, and they shall besupported by a military force. "

I am ashamed to have so far distrusted your Lordships' honorable andgenerous feelings as to have offered you, upon this occasion, anyremarks which you must have run before me in making. Those feelingswhich you have, and ought to have, feelings born in the breasts of allmen, and much more in men of your Lordships' elevated rank, render myremarks unnecessary. I need not, therefore, ask what you feel, when aforeign resident at a prince's court takes upon himself to force thatprince to act the part of a tyrant, and, upon his resistance, openly andavowedly assumes the sovereignty of the country. You have it in proofthat Mr. Middleton did this. He not only put his own name to the ordersfor this horrible confiscation, but he actually proceeded to dispossessthe jaghiredars of their lands, and to send them out of the country. Andwhom does he send, in the place of this plundered body of nobility, totake possession of the country? Why, the usurers of Benares. Yes, myLords, he immediately mortgages the whole country to the usurers ofBenares, for the purpose of raising money upon it: giving it up to thosebloodsuckers, dispossessed of that nobility, whose interest, whose duty, whose feelings, and whose habits made them the natural protectors of thepeople. 

My Lords, we here see a body of usurers put into possession of all theestates of the nobility: let us now see if this act was necessary, evenfor the avowed purposes of its agents, --the relief of the Nabob'sfinancial difficulties, and the payment of his debts to the Company. Mr. Middleton has told your Lordships that these jaghires would pay theCompany's debt completely in two years. Then would it not have beenbetter to have left these estates in the hands of their owners, and tohave oppressed them in some moderate, decent way? Might they not haveleft the jaghiredars to raise the sums required by some settlement withthe bankers of Benares, in which the repayment of the money within fiveor six years might have been secured, and the jaghiredars have had inthe mean time something to subsist upon? Oh, no! these victims must havenothing to live upon. They must be turned out. And why? Mr. Hastingscommands it. 

Here I must come in aid of Mr. Middleton a little; for one cannot butpity the miserable instruments that have to act under Mr. Hastings. I donot mean to apologize for Mr. Middleton, but to pity the situation ofpersons who, being servants of the Company, were converted, by theusurpation of this man, into his subjects and his slaves. The mind ofMr. Middleton revolts. You see him reluctant to proceed. The Nabob begsa respite. You find in the Resident a willingness to comply. Even Mr. Middleton is placable. Mr. Hastings alone is obdurate. His resolution torob and to destroy was not to be moved, and the estates of the wholeMahometan nobility of a great kingdom were confiscated in a moment. YourLordships will observe that his orders to Mr. Middleton allow noforbearance. 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 inquiriesin the House of Commons into his conduct; and this is the manner inwhich he prepares to meet them. "I must get money. I must carry with methat great excuse for everything, that salve for every sore, thatexpiation for every crime: let me provide that, all is well. You, Mr. Middleton, try your nerves: are you equal to these services? Examineyourself; see what is in you: are you man enough to come up to it?" saysthe great robber to the little robber, says Roland the Great to his punyaccomplice. "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, willcome myself, and put to shame all the paltry delegate tools ofdespotism, that have not edge enough to cut their way through and do theservices I have ordained for them. "

I have already stated to your Lordships his reason and motives for thisviolence, and they are such as aggravated his crime by attempting toimplicate his country in it. He says he was afraid to go home withouthaving provided for the payment of the Nabob's debt. Afraid of what? Washe afraid of coming before a British tribunal, and saying, "Throughjustice, through a regard for the rights of an allied sovereign, througha regard to the rights of his people, I have not got so much as Iexpected"? Of this no man could be afraid. The prisoner's fear hadanother origin. "I have failed, " says he to himself, "in my firstproject. I went to Benares to rob; I have lost by my violence the fruitsof that robbery. I must get the money somewhere, or I dare not appearbefore a British House of Commons, a British House of Lords, or anyother tribunal in the kingdom; but let me get money enough, and theywon't care how I get it. The estates of whole bodies of nobility may beconfiscated; a people who had lived under their protection may be givenup into the hands of foreign usurers: they will care for none of thesethings; they will suffer me to do all this, and to employ in it theforce of British troops, whom I have described as a set of robbers, provided I can get money. " These were Mr. Hastings's views; and, inaccordance with them, the jaghires were all confiscated, the jaghiredarswith their families were all turned out, the possessions delivered up tothe usurer, in order that Mr. Hastings might have the excuse of money toplead at the bar of the House of Commons, and afterwards at the bar ofthe House of Lords. If your Lordships, in your sacred character of thefirst tribunal in the world, should by your judgment justify thoseproceedings, you will sanction the greatest wrongs that have been everknown in history. 

But to proceed. The next thing to be asked is, Were the promisedpensions given to the jaghiredars? I suppose your Lordships are not idleenough to put that question to us. No compensation, no consideration, was given or stipulated for them. If there had been any such thing, theprisoner could have proved it, --he would have proved it. The means wereeasy to him. But we have saved him the trouble of the attempt. We haveproved the contrary, and, if called upon, we will show you the placewhere this is proved. 

I have now shown your Lordships how Mr. Hastings, having with suchviolent and atrocious circumstances usurped the government of Oude, (Ihope I need not use any farther proof that the Nabob was in effectnon-existent in the country, ) treated all the landed property. The nextquestion will be, How has he treated whatever moneyed property was leftin the country? My Lords, he looked over that immense waste of his owncreating, not as Satan viewed the kingdoms of the world and saw thepower and glory of them, --but he looked over the waste of Oude with adiabolical malice which one could hardly suppose existed in theprototype himself. He saw nowhere above-ground one single shilling thathe could attach, --no, not one; every place had been ravaged; no moneyremained in sight. But possibly some might be buried in vaults, hid fromthe gripe of tyranny and rapacity. "It must be so, " says he. "Where canI find it? how can I get at it? There is one illustrious family that isthought to have accumulated a vast body of treasures, through a courseof three or four successive reigns. It does not appear openly; but wehave good information that very great sums of money are bricked up andkept in vaults under ground, and secured under the guard and within thewalls of a fortress": the residence of the females of the family, aguard, as your Lordships know, rendered doubly and trebly secure by themanners of the country, which make everything that is in the hands ofwomen sacred. It is said that nothing is proof against gold, --that thestrongest tower will not be impregnable, if Jupiter makes love in agolden shower. This Jupiter commences making love; but he does not cometo the ladies with gold for their persons, he comes to their persons fortheir gold. This impetuous lover, Mr. Hastings, who is not to be stayedfrom the objects of his passion, would annihilate space and time betweenhim 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 firstorders sent to Mr. Middleton. In the treaty of Chunar you see a desire, obliquely expressed, to get the landed estates of all these greatfamilies. But even while he was meeting with such reluctance in theNabob upon this point, and though he also met with some resistance uponthe part even of Mr. Middleton, Mr. Hastings appears to have given himin charge some other still more obnoxious and dreadful acts. "While Iwas meditating, " says Mr. Middleton, in one of his letters, "upon this[the resumption of the jaghires], your orders came to me through SirElijah Impey. " What these orders were is left obscure in the letter: itis yet but as in a mist or cloud. But it is evident that Sir ElijahImpey did convey to him some project for getting at more wealth by someother service, which was not to supersede the first, but to beconcurrent with that upon which Mr. Hastings had before given him suchdreadful charges and had loaded him with such horrible responsibility. It could not have been anything but the seizure of the Begum'streasures. He thus goaded on two reluctant victims, --first the reluctantNabob, then the reluctant Mr. Middleton, --forcing them with the bayonetbehind them, and urging on the former, as at last appears, to violatethe 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 alludedto in Mr. Middleton's letter. We have charged it, as an aggravation ofthe 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 theact of Parliament under which he was sent out to India to redress thewrongs of the natives, should be made an instrument for destroying theproperty, real and personal, of this people. When it first came to ourknowledge that all this private intrigue for the destruction of thesehigh women was carried on through the intrigue of a Chief-Justice, wefelt such shame and such horror, both for the instrument and theprincipal, as I think it impossible to describe, or for anything butcomplete and perfect silence to express. 

But by Sir Elijah Impey was that order carried up to seize andconfiscate the treasures of the Begums. We know that neither the Companynor the Nabob had any claim whatever upon these treasures. On thecontrary, we know that two treaties had been made for the protection ofthem. We know that the Nabob, while he was contesting about someelephants and carriages, and some other things that he said were in thehands of their steward, did allow that the treasures in the custody ofhis grandmother and of his mother's principal servants were theirproperty. This is the Nabob who is now represented by Mr. Hastings andhis counsel to have become the instrument of destroying his mother andgrandmother, 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 firstjustification of it is on grounds which all tyrants have ready at theirhands. He begins to discover a legal title to that of which he wished tobe 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 supposeyour Lordships will not bear to hear the Nabob's name on such anoccasion. The prisoner pretended, that, by the Mahometan law, thesegoods did belong to the Nabob; but whether they did or did not, he hadhimself been an active instrument in the treaty for securing theirpossession to the Begums, --a security which he attempts to unlock by hisconstructions of the Mahometan law. Having set up this title, theguaranty still remained; and how is he to get rid of that? In his usualway. "You have rebelled, you have taken up arms against your own son, "(for that is the pretext, ) "and therefore my guaranty is gone, and yourgoods, whether you have a title to them or not, are to be confiscatedfor your rebellion. " This is his second expedient by way ofjustification. 

Your Lordships will observe the strange situation in which we are hereplaced. If the fact of the rebellion can be proved, the discussion ofthe title to the property in question will be totally useless; for, ifthe ladies had actually taken up arms to cut the Nabob's throat, itwould require no person to come from the dead to prove to us that theNabob, but not Mr. Hastings, had a right, for his own security and forhis own indemnification, to take those treasures, which, whether theybelonged to him or not, were employed in hostilities against him. Thelaw of self-defence is above every other law; and if any persons drawthe sword against you, violence on your part is justified, and you mayuse your sword to take from them that property by which they have beenenabled to draw their sword against you. 

But the prisoner's counsel do not trust to this justification; they setup a title of right to these treasures: but how entirely they havefailed in their attempts to substantiate either the one or the other ofthese his alleged justifications your Lordships will now judge. Andfirst with regard to the title. The treasure, they say, belonged to thestate. The grandmother and mother have robbed the son, and kept him outof his rightful inheritance. They then produce the Hedaya to show youwhat proportion of the goods of a Mussulman, when he dies, goes to hisfamily; and here, certainly, there is a question of law to be tried. ButMr. Hastings is a great eccentric genius, and has a course of proceedingof his own: he first seizes upon the property, and then produces someMahometan writers to prove that it did not belong to the persons whowere in possession of it. You would naturally expect, that, when he wasgoing to seize upon those goods, he would have consulted hisChief-Justice, (for, as Sir Elijah Impey went with him, he might haveconsulted 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 andmoulavies near him, and he might have consulted them. But Mr. Hastingsdoes not even pretend that such consultations or conferences were everhad. If he ever consulted Sir Elijah Impey, where is the report of thecase? When were the parties before him? Where are the opinions of themoulavies? Where is the judgment of the Chief-Justice? Was he fit fornothing but to be employed as a messenger, as a common tipstaff? Was henot fit to try these rights, or to decide upon them? He has told youhere, indeed, negatively, that he did not know any title Mr. Hastingshad to seize upon the property of the Begums, except upon his hypothesisof the rebellion. He was asked if he knew any other. He answered, No. Itconsequently appears that Mr. Hastings, though he had before him hisdoctors of all laws, who could unravel for him all the enigmas of allthe laws in the world, and who had himself shone upon questions ofMahometan law, in the case of the Nuddea Begum, did not dare to put thiscase to Sir Elijah Impey, and ask what was his opinion concerning therights of these people. He was tender, I suppose, of the reputation ofthe Chief-Justice. For Sir Elijah Impey, though a very good man to writea letter, or take an affidavit in a corner, or run on a message, to dothe business of an under-sheriff, tipstaff, or bum-bailiff, was not fitto give an opinion on a question of Mahometan law. 

You have heard Ali Ibrahim Khân referred to. This Mahometan lawyer wascarried by Mr. Hastings up to Benares, to be a witness of the vast goodhe 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 byMr. Hastings, is, I believe, that he is the Ali Ibrahim Khân whom in theCompany's records I find mentioned as a person giving bribes upon someformer occasion to Mr. Hastings; but whatever he was besides, he was adoctor of the Mahometan law, he was a mufti, and was made by Mr. Hastings the principal judge in a criminal court, exercising, as Ibelieve, likewise a considerable civil jurisdiction, and therefore hewas qualified as a lawyer; and Mr. Hastings cannot object to hisqualifications either of integrity or of knowledge. This man was withhim. Why did not he consult him upon this law? Why did he not make himout a case of John Doe and Richard Roe, of John Stokes and John à Nokes?Why not say, "Sinub possesses such things, under such and suchcircumstances: give me your opinion upon the legality of thepossession"? No, he did no such thing. 

Your Lordships, I am sure, will think it a little extraordinary, thatneither this chief-justice made by himself, nor that other chief-justicewhom he led about with him in a string, --the one an Englishchief-justice, with a Mahometan suit in his court, the other a Mahometanchief-justice of the country, --that neither of them was consulted aslawyers by the prisoner. Both of them were, indeed, otherwise employedby him. For we find Ali Ibrahim Khân employed in the same subservientcapacity in which Sir Elijah Impey was, --in order, I suppose, to keepthe law of England and the law of Mahomet upon a just par: for upon thisequality Mr. Hastings always values himself. Neither of these twochief-justices, I say, was ever consulted, nor one opinion taken; butthey were both employed in the correspondence and private execution ofthis abominable project, when the prisoner himself had not eitherleisure or perhaps courage to give his public order in it till thingsgot to greater ripeness. 

To Sir Elijah Impey, indeed, he did put a question; and, upon my word, it did not require an Œdipus or a Sphinx to answer it. Says he, "Iasked Sir Elijah Impey. " What? a question on the title between the Naboband his mother? No such thing. He puts an hypothetical question. "Supposing, " says he, "a rebellion to exist in that country; will theNabob be justified in seizing the goods of the rebels?" That is aquestion decided in a moment; and I must have a malice to Sir ElijahImpey of which I am incapable, to deny the propriety of his answer. Butobserve, I pray you, my Lords, there is something peculiarly good andcorrect in it. He does not take upon him to say one word of the actualexistence 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 chastewas his character as a judge, that he would not touch upon the juries'office. "I am chief-justice here, " says he, "though a little wanderingout of my orbit; yet still the sacred office of justice is in me. Do youtake upon you the fact; I find the law. " Were it not for this sacredattention to separate jurisdictions, he might have been a tolerablejudge of the fact, --just as good a judge as Mr. Hastings: for neither ofthem knew it any other way, as it appears afterwards, but by rumor andreports, --reports, I believe, of Mr. Hastings's own raising; for I donot know that Sir Elijah Impey had anything to do with them. 

But to proceed. With regard to the title of these ladies, according tothe Mahometan law, you have nothing laid before you by the prisoner'scounsel but a quotation cut out with the scissors from a Mahometanlaw-book, (which I suspect very much the learned gentlemen have neverread through, ) declaring how a Mahometan's effects are to bedistributed. But Mr. Hastings could not at the time have consulted thatlearned counsel who now defends him upon the principles of the Hedaya, the Hedaya not having been then published in English; and I will ventureto say, that neither Sir Elijah Impey nor Ali Ibrahim Khân, nor anyother person, high or low, in India, ever suggested this defence, andthat it was never thought of till lately found by the learned counsel inthe English translation of the Hedaya. "God bless me!" now says Mr. Hastings, "what ignorance have I been in all this time! I thought I wasseizing this unjustly, and that the pretence of rebellion was necessary;but my counsel have found out a book, since published, and from it theyproduce the law upon that subject, and show that the Nabob had a rightto seize upon the treasures of his mother. " But are your Lordships soignorant--(your Lordships are not ignorant of anything)--are any men soignorant as not to know that in every country the common law ofdistribution of the estate of an intestate amongst private individualsis no rule with regard to the family arrangements of great princes? Isany one ignorant, that, from the days of the first origin of the Persianmonarchy, the laws of which have become rules ever since for almost allthe monarchs of the East, the wives of great men have had, independentof the common distribution of their goods, great sums of money and greatestates in land, one for their girdle, one for their veil, and so on, going through the rest of their ornaments and attire, --and that theyheld great estates and other effects over which the reigning monarch orhis successor had no control whatever? Indeed, my Lords, a more curiousand extraordinary species of trial than this of a question of rightnever was heard of since the world began. Mr. Hastings begins withseizing the goods of the Begums at Fyzabad, nine thousand miles fromyou, and fourteen years after tries the title in an English court, without having one person to appear for these miserable ladies. I trustyou will not suffer this mockery; I hope this last and ultimate shamewill be spared us: for I declare to God, that the defence, and theprinciples of it, appear to me ten thousand times worse than the actitself. 

Now, my Lords, this criminal, through his counsel, chooses, with theirusual flippancy, to say that the Commons have been _cautious_ in statingthis part of the charge, knowing that they were on tender ground, andtherefore did not venture to say _entitled_, but _possessed of_ only. Anotable discovery indeed! We are as far from being taken in by suchmiserable distinctions as we are incapable of making them. We certainlyhave not said that the Begums were entitled to, but only that they werepossessed of, certain property. And we have so said because we were notcompetent to decide upon their title, because your Lordships are notcompetent to decide upon their title, because no part of this tribunalis competent to decide upon their title. You have not the parties beforeyou; 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 thatquestion. The parties are at a distance from you; they are neitherpresent themselves, nor represented by any counsel, advocate, orattorney: and I hope no House of Lords will ever judge and decide uponthe title of any human being, much less upon the title of the firstwomen in Asia, sequestered, shut up from you, at nine thousand miles'distance. 

I believe, my Lords, that the Emperor of Hindostan little thought, whileDelhi stood, that an English subject of Mr. Hastings's descriptionshould domineer over the Vizier of his empire, and give the law to thefirst persons in his dominions. He as little dreamed of it as any ofyour Lordships now dream that you shall have your property seized by adelegate from Lucknow, and have it tried by what tenure a peer orpeeress of Great Britain hold, the one his estate, and the other herjointure, dower, or her share of goods, her paraphernalia, in any courtof Adawlut in Hindostan. If any such thing should happen, (for we knownot what may happen; we live in an age of strange revolutions, and Idoubt whether any more strange than this, ) the Commons of Great Britainwould shed their best blood sooner than suffer that a tribunal atLucknow should decide upon any of your titles, for the purpose ofjustifying a robber that has taken your property. We should do the bestwe 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 thenatives first to be robbed of their property, and then the titles, whichby the laws of their own country they have to the goods they possess, tobe tried by any tribunal in Great Britain. Why was it not tried in Indiabefore Mr. Hastings? One would suppose that an English governor, ifcalled to decide upon such a claim of the Nabob's, would doubtless beattended by judges, muftis, lawyers, and all the apparatus of legaljustice. No such thing. This man marches into the country, not withmoulavies, not with muftis, not with the solemn apparatus of Orientaljustice, --no: he goes with colonels, and captains, and majors, --theseare 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 andlawyers, these great chief-justices, attorneys-general, andsolicitors-general, called colonels and captains, ashamed of theseproceedings, and endeavoring to mitigate their cruelty; yet we seeBritish lawyers in a British tribunal supporting and justifying theseacts, on the plea of defective titles. 

The learned counsel asks, with an air of triumph, whether these ladiespossessed these treasures by jointure, dower, will, or settlement. Whatwas the title? Was it a deed of gift?--was it a devise?--was it _donatiocausâ mortis?_--was it dower?--was it jointure?--what was it? To allwhich senseless and absurd questions we answer, You asked none of thesequestions of the parties, when you guarantied to them, by a solemntreaty, the possession of their goods. Then was the time to have askedthese questions: but you asked none of them. You supposed their right, and you guarantied it, though you might then have asked what was theirright. But besides the force and virtue of the guaranty, these unhappyprincesses had ransomed themselves from any claim upon their property. They paid a sum of money, applied to your use, for that guaranty. Theyhad a treble title, --by possession, by guaranty, by purchase. 

Again, did you ask these questions, when you went to rob them of theirlanded estates, their money, their ornaments, and even theirwearing-apparel? When you sent those great lawyers, Major ----, Major----, and the other majors, and colonels, and captains, did you call onthem to exhibit their title-deeds? No: with a pistol at their breast, you demanded their money. Instead of forging a charge of rebellionagainst these unhappy persons, why did you not then call on them fortheir vouchers? No rebellion was necessary to give validity to a civilclaim. What you could get by an ordinary judgment did not wantconfiscation called to its aid. When you had their eunuchs, theirministers, their treasurers, their agents and attorneys in irons, didyou then ask any of these questions? No. "Discover the money you have intrust, or _you_ go to corporal punishment, --_you_ go to the castle ofChunar, --here is another pair of irons!"--this was the only languageused. 

When the Court of Directors, alarmed at the proceedings against theseancient ladies, ordered their Indian government to make an inquiry intotheir conduct, the prisoner had then an opportunity and a duty imposedupon him of entering into a complete justification of his conduct: hemight have justified it by every civil, and by every criminal mode ofprocess. Did he do this? No. Your Lordships have in evidence the manner, equally despotic, _rebellious_, insolent, fraudulent, tricking, andevasive, by which he positively refused all inquiry into the matter. Howstands it now, more than twelve years after the seizure of their goods, at ten thousand miles' distance? You ask of these women, buried in thedepths of Asia, secluded from human commerce, what is their title totheir 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 highesttribunal of all, --that which is to furnish the example for, and to be acontrol 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 andcircumvent it; you are desired obliquely to steal an iniquitousjudgment, which you dare not boldly ravish. At this judgment you canonly arrive by a side wind. You have before you a criminal processagainst an offender. One of the charges against him is, that he hasrobbed matrons of high and reverend place. His defence is, that they hadnot the apt deeds to entitle them in law to this property. _In_ thiscause, with only the delinquent party before you, you are called upon totry their title on his allegations of its invalidity, and by acquittinghim to divest them not only of their goods, but of their honor, --to callthem disseizors, wrong-doers, cheats, defrauders of their own son. Nohearing for them, --no pleading, --all appeal cut off. Was ever a manindicted for a robbery, that is, for the forcible taking of the goodspossessed by another, suffered to desire the prosecutor to show thedeeds or other instruments by which he acquired those goods? The idea iscontemptible and ridiculous. Do these men dream? Do they conceive, intheir confused imaginations, that you can be here trying such aquestion, and venturing to decide upon it? Your Lordships will never dothat, which if you did do, you would be unfit to subsist as a tribunalfor a single hour; and if we, on our part, did not bring before you thisattempt, as the heaviest aggravation of the prisoner's crimes, weshould betray our trust as representatives of the Commons of GreatBritain. Having made this protest in favor of law, of justice, and goodpolicy, permit me to take a single step more. 

I will now show your Lordships that it is very possible, nay, veryprobable, and almost certain, that a great part of what these ladiespossessed was a saving of their own, and independent of any grant. Itappears in the papers before you, that these unfortunate ladies hadabout 70, 000_l. _ a year, landed property. Mr. Bristow states in evidencebefore your Lordships, that their annual expenses did not exceed a lacand a half, and that their income was about seven lacs; that they hadpossessed this for twenty years before the death of Sujah Dowlah, andfrom the death of that prince to the day of the robbery. Now, if yourLordships will calculate what the savings from an income of 70, 000_l. _ ayear will amount to, when the party spends about 15, 000_l. _ a year, youwill see that by a regular and strict economy these people may havesaved considerable property of their own, independent of their titles toany other property: and this is a rational way of accounting for theirbeing extremely rich. It may be supposed, likewise, that they had allthose advantages which ladies of high rank usually have in thatcountry, --gifts at marriage, &c. We know that there are deeds of gift byhusbands to their wives during their lifetime, and many other legalmeans, by which women in Asia become possessed of very great property. But Mr. Hastings has taught them the danger of much wealth, and thedanger of economy. He has shown them that they are saving, not for theirfamilies, 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 oftheir titles. And yet there is one observation more to be made, and thenI shall have done with this part of the prisoner's defence. It is, thatthe Nabob himself never has made a claim on this ground; even Mr. Hastings, his despotic master, could never get him regularly andsystematically to make such a claim; the very reverse of this is thetruth. When urged on to the commission of these acts of violence by Mr. Middleton, you have seen with what horror and how reluctantly he lendshis 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 thisclaim, as the foundation of it? Upon one occasion only, when dragged tojoin in this wicked act, something dropped from his lips which seemedrather to have been forced into his mouth, and which he was obliged tospit out again, about the possibility that he might have had some rightto the effects of the Begums. 

We next come to consider the manner in which these acts of violence wereexecuted. They forced the Nabob himself to accompany their troops, andtheir Resident, Mr. Middleton, to attack the city and to storm the fortin which these ladies lived, and consequently to outrage their persons, to insult their character, and to degrade their dignity, as well as torob them of all they had. 

That your Lordships may learn something of one of these ladies, calledthe Munny Begum, I will refer you to Major Browne's evidence, --a man whowas at Delhi, the fountain-head of all the nobility of India, and musthave known who this lady was that has been treated with such indignityby the prisoner at your bar. Major Browne was asked, "What was theopinion at Delhi respecting the rank, quality, and character of thePrincesses 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 daughterof Saadut Ali Khân, a person of high rank in the time of MahommedShah. "--"Do you know whether any woman in all Hindostan was consideredof superior rank or birth?"--He answers, "I believe not, except those ofthe royal family. She was a near relation to Mirza Shaffee Khân, who wasa noble of nobles, the first person at that day in the empire. " Inanswer to another question put by a noble Lord, in the same examination, respecting the conversation which he had with Mirza Shaffee Khân, and ofwhich he had given an account, he says, "He [Mirza Shaffee Khân] spokeof the attempt to seize the treasures of the Begums, which was thensuspected, in terms of resentment, and as a disgrace in which heparticipated, as being related by blood to the house of Sufdar Jung, whowas the husband of the old Begum. " He says afterwards, in the sameexamination, that he, the Begum's husband, was the second man, and thather 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 thatkings were its subjects; and this very Mirza Shaffee Khân, that we speakof, 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 alittle decorum. When we consider the high rank of their husbands, theirfathers, and their children, a rank so high that we have nothing inGreat Britain to compare with theirs, we cannot be surprised that theywere left in possession of great revenues, great landed estates, andgreat moneyed property. All the female parts of these families, whosealliance was, doubtless, much courted, could not be proffered inmarriage, and endowed in a manner agreeably to the dignity of suchpersons, but with great sums of money; and your Lordships must alsoconsider the multitude of children of which these families frequentlyconsisted. The consequences of this robbery were such as might naturallybe expected. It is said that not one of the females of this family hassince 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 thatof his agents? Did they ever once state to these unfortunate women thatany such rebellion existed? Did they ever charge them with it? Did theyever set the charge down in writing, or make it verbally, that they hadconspired to destroy their son, a son whom Mr. Hastings had broughtthere to rob them? No, this was what neither Mr. Hastings nor his agentever did: for as they never made a civil demand upon them, so they nevermade a criminal charge against them, or against any person belonging tothem. 

I save your Lordships the trouble of listening to the manner in whichthey seized upon these people, and dispersed their guard. Mr. Middletonstates, that they found great difficulties in getting at theirtreasures, --that they stormed their forts successively, but found greatreluctance in the sepoys to make their way into the inner inclosures ofthe 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 aregenerally persons who have been bought slaves, and who, not having anyconnections in the country where they are settled, are supposed to guardboth the honor of the women, and their treasures, with more fidelitythan other persons would do. We know that in Constantinople, and in manyother places, these persons enjoy offices of the highest trust, and areof great rank and dignity; and this dignity and rank they possess forthe purpose of enabling them to fulfil their great trusts moreeffectually. The two principal eunuchs of the Begums were Jewar andBehar Ali Khân, persons of as high rank and estimation as any people inthe 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 insurrectionbefore alluded to, &c. Mr. Hastings declares that they were not seizedfor the purpose of extorting money, but that they were seized in orderto be punished for their crimes, and, _eo nomine_, for this crime ofrebellion. Now this crime could not have been committed immediately by[the?] women themselves; for no woman can come forward and head her owntroops. We have not heard that any woman has done so since the time ofZenobia, in another part of the East; and we know that in Persia noperson can behold the face of a woman of rank, or speak to females ofcondition, but through a curtain: therefore they could not go outthemselves, and be active in a rebellion. But, I own, it would be somesort of presumption against them, if Jewar Ali Khân and Behar Ali Khânhad headed troops, and been concerned in acts of rebellion; and theprisoner's counsel have taken abundance of pains to show that suchpersons do sometimes head armies and command legions in the East. Thiswe acknowledge that they sometimes do. If these eunuchs had behaved inthis way, if they had headed armies and commanded legions for thepurposes of rebellion, it would have been a fair presumption that theirmistresses were concerned in it. But instead of any proof of such facts, Mr. Hastings simply says, "We do not arrest them for the purpose ofextorting 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 singularnot to detect him in a falsity, but in a truth. I will now show yourLordships 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 Khân 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 aletter which begins with "_Dear Sir Elijah_, " and alludes to some familymatters, and is therefore more likely to discover the real truth, thetrue genius of a proceeding, than all the formal and official stuff thatever was produced. You see the tenderness and affection in which theyproceed. You see it is his _dear Sir Elijah_. You see that he does nottell the dear Sir Elijah, the Chief-Justice of India, the pillar of thelaw, the great conservator of personal liberty and private property, --hedoes not tell him that he has been able to convict these eunuchs of anycrime; he does not tell him he has the pleasure of informing him whatmatter he has got upon which a decision at law may be grounded; he doesnot tell him that he has got the least proof of the want of title inthose ladies: not a word of the kind. You cannot help observing the softlanguage used in this tender billet-doux between Mr. Middleton and SirElijah Impey. You would imagine that they were making love, and that youheard the voice of the turtle in the land. You hear the soft cooing, thegentle addresses, --"Oh, my hopes!" to-day, "My fears!" to-morrow, --allthe language of friendship, almost heightened into love; and it comes atlast to "_I have got at the secret hoards of these ladies_. --Let usrejoice, my dear Sir Elijah; this is a day of rejoicing, a day oftriumph; and this triumph we have obtained by seizing upon the oldlady's eunuchs, --in doing which, however, we found a great deal ofdifficulty. " You would imagine, from this last expression, that it wasnot two eunuchs, with a few miserable women clinging about them, thatthey had to seize, but that they had to break through all the guardswhich we see lovers sometimes breaking through, when they want to get attheir ladies. Hardly ever did the beauty of a young lady excite suchrapture; I defy all the charms this country can furnish to produce amore wonderful effect than was produced by the hoards of these two oldwomen, in the bosoms of Sir Elijah Impey and Mr. Middleton. "We havegot, " he exultingly says, "we have got to the secret hoards of this oldlady!" And I verily believe there never was a passion less dissembled;there Nature spoke; there was truth triumphant, honest truth. Others mayfeign a passion; but nobody can doubt the raptures of Mr. Hastings, SirElijah Impey, and Mr. Middleton. 

My Lords, one would have expected to have found here something of theircrimes, something of their rebellion, for he talks of a few "necessaryseverities. " But no: you find the real criminal, the real object, wasthe secret hoards of the old ladies. It is true, _a few severities_ werenecessary to obtain that object: however, they did obtain it. How thendid they proceed? First, they themselves took and received, in weightand tale, all the money that was in the place. I say _all_; for whetherthere was any more they never have discovered, with all their search, from that day to this. Therefore we fairly presume that they haddiscovered all that there was to discover with regard to money. Theynext took from these unfortunate people an engagement for the amount oftreasure 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, asyour Lordships have it in evidence, that they demanded from her amillion of money; that she, of course, denied having any such sums; butMr. Middleton forced her unfortunate eunuchs or treasurers, by some _fewseverities_, to give their bond for 600, 000_l. _

You would imagine, that, when these eunuchs had given up all that was intheir power, when they had given a bond for what they had not, (for theywere only the treasurers of other people, ) that the bond would not havebeen rigidly exacted. But what do Mr. Hastings and Mr. Middleton, assoon as they get their plunder? They went to their own assay-table, bywhich they measured the rate of exchange between the coins in currencyat Oude and those at Calcutta, and add the difference to the sum forwhich the bond was given. Thus they seize the secret hoards, theyexamine it as if they were receiving a debt, and they determine whatthis money would and ought to produce at Calcutta: not considering it ascoming from people who gave all they had to give, but as what it wouldproduce at the mint at Calcutta, according to a custom made for theprofit of the Residents; even though Mr. Hastings, upon anotheroccasion, charged upon Mr. Bristow as a crime that he had made thatprofit. This money, my Lords, was taken to that assay-table, which theyhad invented for their own profit, and they made their victims pay arupee and a half batta, or exchange of money, upon each gold mohur; bywhich and other charges they brought them 60, 000_l. _ more in debt, andforced them to give a bond for that 60, 000_l. _

Your Lordships have seen in what manner these debts werecontracted, --and that they were contracted by persons engaging, not forthemselves, for they had nothing; all their property was apparentlytheir mistresses'. You will now see in what manner the payment of themwas exacted; and we shall beg leave to read to you their own accounts oftheir own proceedings. Your Lordships will then judge whether they wereproceeding against rebels as rebels, or against wealthy people aswealthy people, punishing them, under pretence of crimes, for their ownprofit. 

In a letter from Mr. Middleton to Mr. Hastings, after two otherparagraphs, 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 wasindispensably necessary to employ temporizing expedients, and to workupon the hopes and fears of the Begum herself, and more especially uponthose of her principal agents, through whose means alone there appearedany probable chance of our getting access to the hidden treasures of thelate Vizier; and when I acquaint you that by far the greatest part ofthe treasure which has been delivered to the Nabob was taken from themost secret recesses in the houses of the two eunuchs, whence, ofcourse, it could not have been extracted without the adoption of thosemeans which could induce the discovery, I shall hope for yourapprobation of what I did. I must also observe, that no further rigorthan that which I exerted could have been used against females in thiscountry, to whom there can be no access. The Nabob and Salar Jung werethe only two that could enter the zenanah: the first was a son, who wasto address a parent, and, of course, could use no language or action butthat of earnest and reiterated solicitation; and the other was, in allappearance, a traitor to our cause. Where force could be employed, itwas not spared: the troops of the Begum were driven away and dispersed;their guns taken; her fort, and the outward walls of her house seizedand occupied by our troops, at the Nabob's requisition; and her chiefagents imprisoned and put in irons. No further step was left. And inthis situation they still remain, and are to continue (excepting only aremission of the irons) until the final liquidation of the payment; andif then you deem it proper, no possible means of offence being left inher hands or those of her agents, all her lands and property having beentaken, I mean, with your sanction, to restore her house and servants toher, and hope to be favored with your early reply, as I expect that afew days will complete the final surrender of all that is furtherexpected from the Begum. "

There are some things in this letter which I shall beg your Lordships toremark. There is mention made of a few preliminary severities used byMr. Middleton, in order to get at their money. Well, he did get at themoney, and he got a bond for the payment of an additional sum, whichthey thought proper to fix at about six hundred thousand pounds, towhich was added another usurious bond for sixty thousand; and in orderto extort these forced bonds, and to make up their aggravated crimes ofusury, violence, and oppression, they put these eunuchs into prison, without food and water, and loaded their limbs with fetters. This wastheir second imprisonment; and what followed these few severities yourLordships will remark, --still more severities. They continued topersecute, to oppress, to work upon these men by torture and by the fearof torture, till at last, having found that all their proceedings weretotally ineffectual, they desire the women to surrender their house;though it is in evidence before you, that to remove a woman from her ownhouse to another house without her consent is an outrage of the greatestatrocity, on account of which many women have not only threatened, buthave actually put themselves to death. Mr. Hastings himself, in the caseof Munny Begum, had considered such a proposition as the last degree ofoutrage that could be offered. These women offered to go from house tohouse while their residence was searched; but "No, " say theirtormentors, "the treasure may be bricked up, in so large a house, insuch a manner that we cannot find it. "

But to proceed with the treatment of these unfortunate men. I will readto 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 Khân, 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 Khân and Jewar Ali Khân 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 atthat period; you see they were put in irons, in a place highlyunhealthy; and from this you will judge of the treatment which followedthe _few severities_. The first yielded a bond for 600, 000_l. _; thesecond, a bond for 60, 000_l. _; the third was intended to extort thepayment of these bonds, and completed their series. 

I will now read a letter from Captain Jaques to Mr. Middleton, from theprinted Minutes, dated _Palace, Fyzabad, May 18th, 1782_, consequentlywritten nearly a month after the former. 

 "Sir, --The prisoners Behar and Jewar Ali Khân, 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 repliedto 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 connectedwith 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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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 partof it, which was the threatening to send the Begum to the castle atChunar. After all these cruelties, after all these menaces of furthercruelties, after erecting a scaffold for actually exercising the lastdegree of criminal punishment, namely, by whipping these miserablepersons in public, --after everything has been done but execution, ourinability to prove by evidence this part of their proceedings hassecured to your Lordships a circumstance of decorum observed on thestage where murders, executions, whippings, and cruelties are performedbehind 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 itin the handwriting of the Resident, Mr. Bristow, that Behar Ali Khân wasactually scourged in the manner that we speak of. I had it in writing inthe 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; butif your Lordships saw the scaffold erected for the purpose, (and ofthis we have evidence, ) would you not necessarily believe that thescourging did follow? All this was done in the name of the Nabob; but ifthe Nabob is the person claiming his father's effects, if the Nabob isthe person vindicating a rebellion against himself upon his nearestrelations, 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 underhis own hand. We see all the orders given by the cool Mr. Middleton, bythe outrageous Mr. Johnson, by all that gang of persons that theprisoner used to disgrace the British name. Who are the officers thatstormed their fort? who put on the irons? who sent them? who suppliedthem? They are all, all, English officers. There is not an appearance, even, of a minister of the Nabob's in the whole transaction. The actorsare all Englishmen; and we, as Englishmen, call for punishment uponthose who have thus degraded and dishonored the English name. 

We do not use torture or cruelties, even for the greatest crimes, buthave banished them from our courts of justice; we never suffer them inany case. Yet those men, in order to force others to break their mostsacred trust, inflict tortures upon them. They drag their poor victimsfrom dungeon to dungeon, from one place of punishment to another, andwholly on account of an extorted bond, --for they owed no money, theycould not owe any, --but to got this miserable balance of 60, 000_l. _, founded upon their tables of exchange: after they had plundered theseladies of 500, 000_l. _ in money, and 70, 000_l. _ a year in land, theycould not be satisfied without putting usury and extortion upon tyrannyand oppression. To enforce this unjust demand, the miserable victimswere imprisoned, ironed, scourged, and at last threatened to be sentprisoners to Chunar. This menace succeeded. The persons who had resistedirons, who had been, as the Begums say, refused food and water, stowedin an unwholesome, stinking, pestilential prison, these personswithstood everything till the fort of Chunar was mentioned to them; andthen their fortitude gave way: and why? The fort of Chunar was not inthe dominions of the Nabob, whose rights they pretended to bevindicating: to name a British fort, in their circumstances, was to nameeverything that is most horrible in tyranny; so, at least, it appearedto them. They gave way; and thus were committed acts of oppression andcruelty unknown, I will venture to say, in the history of India. Thewomen, indeed, could not be brought forward and scourged, but theirministers were tortured, till, for their redemption, these princessesgave up all their clothes, all the ornaments of their persons, all theirjewels, all the memorials of their husbands and fathers, --all weredelivered up, and valued by merchants at 50, 000_l. _; and they also gaveup 5, 000_l. _ in money, or thereabouts: so that, in reality, only about5, 000_l. _, a mere nothing, a sum not worth mentioning, even in thecalculations of extortion and usury, remained unpaid. 

But, my Lords, what became of all this money? When you examine thesewitnesses here, they tell you it was paid to Hyder Beg Khân. Now theyhad themselves received the money in tale at their own assay-table. Andwhen an account is demanded of the produce of the goods, they shrinkfrom it, and say it was Hyder Beg Khân who received the things and soldthem. Where is Hyder Beg Khân's receipt? The Begums say (and the thingspeaks for itself) that even gold and jewels coming from them lost theirvalue; that part of the goods were spoilt, being kept long unsold indamp and bad warehouses; and that the rest of the goods were sold, asthieves sell their spoil, for little or nothing. In all this businessMr. Hastings and Mr. Middleton were themselves the actors, chief actors;but now, when they are called to account, they substitute Hyder Beg Khânin their place, a man that is dead and gone, and you hear nothing moreof this part of the business. 

But the sufferings of these eunuchs did not end here; they were, onaccount of this odd 5, 000_l. _, confined for twelve months, --notprisoners at large, like this prisoner who thrusts his sore leg intoyour Lordships' faces every day, but in harsh and cruel confinement. These are the persons that I feel for. It is their dungeon, it is theirunrevenged wrongs that move me. It is for these innocent, miserable, unhappy men, who were guilty of no offence but fidelity to theirmistresses, in order to vex and torture whom (the first women in Asia)in the persons of their ministers these cruelties were exercised, --theseare they for whom I feel, and not for the miserable sore leg or whiningcant of this prisoner. He has been the author of all these wrongs; andif 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 thiscriminal, who put on these irons, been without one iron? Has he beenthreatened with torture? Has he been locked up without food and water?Have his sufferings been aggravated as the sufferings of these poor menwere aggravated? What punishment has been inflicted, and what can beinflicted upon him, in any manner commensurate with the atrocity of hiscrimes?

At last, my Lords, these unhappy men were released. Mr. Bristow, who hadbeen sent to Lucknow, writes to Mr. Hastings, and informs him thatseverities could do no more, that imprisonments and menaces could get nomore money. I believe not, for I doubt much whether any more was to begot. But whether there was or not, all the arts of extortion, fortifiedby all the arts of tyranny, of every name and species, had failed, andtherefore Mr. Bristow released the prisoners, --but without any warrantfor so doing from Mr. Hastings, who, after having received this letterfrom Mr. Bristow, gets the Supreme Council to order these veryseverities to be continued till the last farthing was paid. In order toinduce the Council to sanction this measure, he suppressed Mr. Bristow'sdeclaration, that severities could do nothing more in exacting furtherpayments; and the Resident, I find, was afterwards obliquely punishedfor 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 hadbeen confined) "is recalled, and my letter to the board of the 1stinstant has explained my conduct to the Begum. The letter I addressedher, a translation of which I beg leave to inclose, (No. 2, ) was with aview of convincing her that you readily assented to her being freed fromthe restraints which had been imposed upon her, and that youracquiescence in her sufferings was a measure of necessity, to which youwere forced by her extraordinary conduct. I wished to make it appearthis was a matter on which you directed me to consult the Vizier'spleasure, that it might be known you were the spring from whence she wasrestored to her dignity and consequence. "

On the 3d of March following, the Council agree to send the followingorder to Mr. Bristow. 

"We desire you will inform us if any and what means have been taken forrecovering the balance due from the Begum at Fyzabad, and, if necessary, that you recommend it to the Vizier to enforce the most effectual meansfor that purpose. "

My Lords, you see the fraud he has put upon the Council. You will findthat Mr. Bristow's letters, up to the 3d of March, had been suppressed;and though then communicated, yet he instigated his cat's-paw, thatblind and ignorant Council, to demand from the Vizier the renewal ofthese very severities and cruelties, the continuance of which theletters in his pocket had shown him were of no effect. Here you have aninstance of his implacable cruelty; you see that it never relaxes, neverremits, and that, finding all the resources of tyranny useless andineffective, he is still willing to use them, and for that purpose hemakes a fraudulent concealment of the utter inefficacy of all the meansthat had been used. 

But, you will ask, what could make him persevere in these acts ofcruelty, after his avarice had been more than satiated? You will find itis this. He had had some quarrel with these women. He believed that theyhad done him some personal injury or other, of which he nowhere informsyou. But, as you find that in the case of Cheyt Sing he considered hisvisit to General Clavering as an horrid outrage against himself, whichhe never forgave, and revenged to the ruin of that miserable person, soyou find that he has avowed the same malicious disposition towards theBegums, arising from some similar cause. In page 367 of your printedMinutes, he says, --"I am sorry that I must in truth add, that a part ofthe resentment of the Begums was, as I had too much reason to suspect, directed to myself personally. The incidents which gave rise to it aretoo light to be mixed with the professed subject and occasion of thisdetail; and as they want the authenticity of recorded evidence, I couldlay no claim to credit in my relation of them. At some period I may beinduced 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 agreat part of this transaction. He had determined upon some deep anddesperate revenge for some injury or affront of some kind or other thathe thought he had received from these people. He accuses them of apersonal quarrel with himself; and yet he has not the honor or honestyto tell you what it was, --what it was that could induce them toentertain such a personal resentment against him as to ruin themselvesand their country by their supposed rebellion. He says, that some timeor 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 itwas connected with a rebellion which shook the British power in India toits foundation? And if it be true that this rebellion had its rise insome wicked act of this man, who had offended these women, and madethem, as he says, his mortal enemies, you will then see that you nevercan go so deep with this prisoner that you do not find in every criminalact of his some other criminal act. In the lowest deep there is still alower deep. In every act of his cruelty there is some hidden, darkmotive, worse than the act itself, of which he just gives you a hint, without exposing it to that open light which truth courts and falsehoodbasely 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 beoffered to women of their rank, all this must have been highlyaggravated by coming from such a man as Mr. Middleton. You have heard theaudacious and insulting language he has held to them, his declining tocorrespond with them, and the mode of his doing it. There are, my Lords, things that embitter the bitterness of oppression itself: contumeliousacts and language, coming from persons who the other day would havelicked the dust under the feet of the lowest servants of these ladies, must have embittered their wrongs, and poisoned the very cup of maliceitself. 

Oh! but they deserved it. They were concerned in a wicked, outrageousrebellion: first, for expelling their own son from his dominions; and, secondly, for expelling and extirpating the English nation out ofIndia. --Good God Almighty! my Lords, do you hear this? Do you understandthat the English nation had made themselves so odious, so particularlyhateful, even to women the most secluded from the world, that there wasno crime, no mischief, no family destruction, through which they wouldnot wade, for our extermination? Is this a pleasant thing to hear of?Rebellion is, in all parts of the world, undoubtedly considered as agreat misfortune: in some countries it must be considered as apresumption of some fault in government: _nowhere is it boasted of assupplying the means of justifying acts of cruelty and insult, but withus_. 

We have, indeed, seen that a rebellion did exist in Baraitch andGoruckpore. It was an universal insurrection of the people: aninsurrection for the very extermination of Englishmen, --for theextermination of Colonel Hannay, --for the extermination of CaptainGordon, --for the extermination of Captain Williams, and of all the othercaptains and colonels exercising the office of farmer-general andsub-farmer-general in the manner that we have described. We know thatthere did exist in that country such a rebellion. But mark, my Lords, against whom!--against these mild and gracious sovereigns, ColonelHannay, Captain Gordon, Captain Williams. Oh, unnatural and abominablerebellion!--But will any one pretend to say that the Nabob himself wasever attacked by any of these rebels? No: the attacks were levelledagainst the English. The people rose in favor of their lawful sovereign, against a rebellion headed by Mr. Middleton, who, you see, usurped hisauthority, --headed by Colonel Hannay, --headed by Captain Gordon, --headedby all those abominable persons exercising, under the Nabob's name, anauthority destructive to himself and his subjects. Against them therewas a rebellion. But was this an unnatural rebellion, --a rebellionagainst 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 wishto leave this part of our charge strongly and distinctly impressed uponyour Lordships' memory, and because nothing can aggravate it. I shallnext proceed, in the farther examination of the prisoner's defence, todissipate, as I trust we have done, and as I hope we shall do, all themiserable stuff they have given by way of defence. I shall often haveoccasion to repeat and press upon your Lordships that that miserabledefence is a heavy aggravation of his crime. At present, I shallconclude, leaving this part of our charge with the impression upon yourLordships' minds that this pretended rebellion was merely aninsurrection against the English, excited by their oppression. 

If the rebellion was against the Nabob, or if he was the author of theoppression which caused it, why do the English only appear to beconcerned in both of them? How comes it that the Nabob never appears tohave expressed any resentment against the rebels? We shall prove beyonda 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 arebellion against--not the Nabob, but in favor of the lawful prince ofthe country, --against the usurpers of his authority and the destroyersof his country. With this, as a rebellion, Mr. Hastings has chargedthese women; he has charged them with a war against their son, for thepurpose of exterminating the English. Look, I pray you, at the wholebusiness, consider all the circumstances of it, and ask yourselveswhether this is not a charge, not only so grossly improbable, but soperfectly impossible, that there is not any evidence which can make iteven plausible. Consider next, my Lords, on the other side, the evidenceof their innocence, and then ask yourselves whether any additionalmatter could make its probability in the least degree more probable. MyLords, the evidence we have produced is neither more nor less than thatof almost all the persons who have had a share in exciting thatrebellion, and who, to justify their own horrible cruelty, haveattempted to charge the natural consequences of that cruelty upon theseunhappy women. 

But where, all this time, is the Nabob, against whom this rebellion ispretended to be directed? Was it ever even insinuated to him that hismother had raised a rebellion against him? When were the proofs shown tohim? Did he ever charge her with it? He surely must have been mostanxious to prevent and suppress a rebellion against himself: but not oneword on that subject has ever come out of his mouth; nor has any oneperson been produced to show that he was informed of the existence ofsuch a rebellion. The persons said to be rebels are his mother andgrandmother; and I again ask, Was there the least intimation given tohim by Mr. Middleton, or by any other person, of their being evensuspected of rebellion against him? There was, indeed, a hint of somerebellion, which the creatures of Mr. Hastings got at obliquely; butneither the person against whom the rebellion is supposed to exist, northe persons who were said to be guilty of it, were ever either informedof or charged with it. I defy the prisoner and his whole gang to produceone word ever uttered by any one of them, from which the Nabob orBegums could learn that they were supposed to be concerned in therebellion: so that none of those who were said to be the principalactors in the scene ever heard of the parts they were acting from theactual authors and managers of the business. Not one word was uttered ofa charge made, much less of proof given. Nothing was heard but "Give methe money!"--irons, --new irons, --new imprisonment, --and at last thecastle of Chunar. 

And here I beg leave to pause, and to leave upon your minds theimpression, first, of the wrong that was done, the violence, and therobbery, --and, secondly, of the pretences, both civil and criminal, bywhich 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 ofyour proceeding in this trial at a most interesting part of our charge, or rather of our observations upon that charge. We closed at that awfulmoment when we found the first women of Oude pillaged of all theirlanded and of all their moneyed property, in short, of all theypossessed. We closed by reciting to you the false pretence on which thispillage was defended, namely, that it was the work of the Nabob. Now wehad before proved to you, from evidence adduced by the prisoner himself, that this Nabob was a mere tool in his hands; and therefore, if thispretence be true, it aggravates his guilt: for surely the forcing a sonto violate the property of his mother must everywhere be considered acrime most portentous and enormous. At this point we closed; and afterthe detail which has been given you already of these horrible andiniquitous proceedings, some apology may perhaps be necessary forentering again into the refutation of this iniquitous pretence. 

My honorable fellow Manager who preceded me in this business did, in hisremarks upon the inference drawn by the prisoner's counsel from theseizure of the Begums' treasures by the Nabob, as evidence of theirguilt, as he ought to do, --he treated it with proper contempt. Iconsider it, indeed, to be as little an evidence of their guilt as hedoes, and as little a defence of that seizure as he does. But I considerit in another and in a new light, namely, as a heavy aggravation of theprisoner's crimes, and as a matter that will let you into the wholespirit of his government; and I warn your Lordships against beingimposed on by evasions, of which if it were possible for you to be thedupes, you would be unfit to be judges of the smallest matters in theworld, civil or criminal. 

The first observation which I shall beg leave to make to your Lordshipsis this, that the whole of the proceedings, from beginning to end, hasbeen a mystery of iniquity, and that in no part of them have the ordersof the Company been regarded, but, on the contrary, the whole has beencarried on in a secret and clandestine manner. 

It is necessary that your Lordships should be acquainted with the mannerin which the correspondence of the Company's servants ought to becarried on and their proceedings regulated; your Lordships, therefore, will please to hear read the orders given concerning correspondence ofevery kind with the country powers. You will remember the period whenthese orders were issued, namely, the period at which the act passed forthe better direction of the servants of the Company. By this act Mr. Hastings was appointed to be Governor-General, and the Court ofDirectors was required by that act to prepare orders and instructions, which Mr. Hastings was required by the same act to comply with. You willsee what these instructions and orders were, and in what manner he hascomplied 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 theseinstructions: first, that, after the board had regularly met, thePersian correspondence, kept by the Governor only, was to becommunicated to the Council; and, secondly, that he should write noanswer to any part of the business until he had previously consulted theCouncil upon it. Here is the law of the land, --an order given inpursuance of an act of Parliament. Your Lordships will consider how Mr. Hastings comported himself with regard to those orders: for we charge itas a substantive crime, independent of the criminal presumptions arisingfrom it, that he violated an act of Parliament which imposed directinstructions upon him as to the manner in which he was to conduct allmatters of business with the native powers. 

My Lords, we contend strongly that all the positive rules andinjunctions of the law, though they are merely positive, and do notcontain anything but mere matters of regulation, shall be strictlyobserved. The reason is this, and a serious reason it is: officialtyranny and oppression, corruption, peculation, and bribery are crimesso secret in their nature that we can hardly ever get to the proof ofthem without the assistance of rules, orders, and regulations of apositive nature, intended to prevent the perpetration of these crimes, and to detect the offender in case the crimes should be actuallyperpetrated. You ought, therefore, to presume, that, whenever such rulesor laws are broken, these crimes are intended to be committed; for youhave no means of security against the commission of secret crimes but byenforcing 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 hundredcases where they have been committed, you can prove whether the properdocuments, proper cockets, proper entries in regular offices have beenobserved and performed, or not. By these means you lock the door againstbribery, you lock the door against corruption, against smuggling andcontraband trade. But how? By falling upon and attacking the offence?No, by falling upon and attacking the breach of the regulation. Youprove that the man broke the regulation, and, as he could have no othermotive or interest in breaking it, you presume that he broke itfraudulently, and you punish the man not for the crime the regulationwas meant to prevent, but you punish him for the breach of theregulation itself. 

Next to the breach of these positive instructions, your Lordships willattend to the consequent concealment and mystery by which it wasaccompanied. All government must, to preserve its authority, be sincerein its declarations and authentic in its acts. Whenever in any matter ofpolicy there is a mystery, you must presume a fraud; whenever in anymatter of money there is concealment, you must presume misconduct: youmust 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 toavenge the breach of it. You have seen the consequences of breaking therule; and we have charged and do charge it as a heavy aggravation ofthose consequences, that, instead of consulting the Council, instead oflaying the whole correspondence before them, instead of consulting themupon his answers, he went himself up into the country, took hisMajesty's chief-justice along with him, and made that person theinstrument of those wrongs, violences, robberies, and concealmentswhich we call upon your Lordships to punish. 

My Lords, an extraordinary circumstance occurred in the course of ourproceedings in another place, which I must state, to show you in what ahorrible manner your laws have been trampled upon and despised. None ofthe proceedings which have been last stated to your Lordships respectingthe seizure of the treasures of the Begums appear upon any public recordwhatever. From the manner in which they came to our knowledge, yourLordships will perceive what must have been the prisoner's own opinionof the horrible nature of proceedings which he thought so necessary tobe concealed. 

Whilst we were inquiring into the violences committed against theBegums, in breach of the treaty entered into with them, there came intomy hands an anonymous letter containing a full account of all the matterwhich has lately been stated to you. It came anonymously; and I did notknow from what quarter it came. I do not even know with certainty atthis hour: I say, not with certainty, for I can only form a conjecture. This anonymous communication enabled us to produce all thecorrespondence with Mr. Middleton respecting the cruelties exercisedtowards the Begums and their eunuchs in order to extort money. We foundthe names of Major Gilpin and several other persons in these letters. Wealso found in them a strong fox smell of a Sir Elijah Impey, that hisbrush and crime had left behind him; we traced him by that scent; and aswe proceeded, we discovered the footsteps of as many of the wolves asMr. Hastings thought proper to leave there. We sent for and examined Mr. Middleton, and Major Gilpin produced his correspondence. When we appliedto Mr. Middleton, we found that all this part of his correspondence hadbeen torn out of his book; but having come at it by means of ouranonymous communication, we subsequently proved and established it, inthe manner we have done before your Lordships. Here, then, you haveimportant matter which this anonymous letter has brought to light; andotherwise the whole of this correspondence, so essential to theinterests and justice of Great Britain, would have been concealed bythis wicked man. Thus, I say, his violation of a positive law would haveremained undiscovered, if mere accident had not enabled us to trace thisiniquity to its source. Therefore I begin our proceedings this day bystating to your Lordships this fact, and by calling upon your justice topunish him for this violation of the laws of his country. 

We have told you who the instruments were by which all this wickednesswas committed, Mr. Middleton and Mr. Johnson, persons who were sent asambassadors to represent the interests of the Company at the court of anindependent prince. Over this prince they usurped an absolute power;they even made use of British officers in his own service and receivinghis pay, to enslave his person, and to force him to rob his kindred. These agents were aided by an English chief-justice, sent under theauthority of an act of Parliament to represent the sovereign majesty ofEnglish justice, and to be a restraint upon the misconduct of theCompany's servants. These are the instruments with which this man works. We have shown you his system; we have shown you his instruments: we willnow proceed with the examination of the pretences upon which this horridand nefarious act is attempted to be justified. We have not entered intothis examination for the sake of refuting things that want norefutation, but for the purpose of showing you the spirit of the wholeproceeding, and making it appear to your Lordships, as I trust it willappear, that the wicked act done there is not half so bad as the wickeddefence made here. 

The first part of Sir Elijah Impey's commission, as your Lordships willremember, was to seize upon the Begums' treasures. He had likewiseanother budget of instructions, which has been discovered in the trunksof which your Lordships have heard, --secret instructions to be given byhim to Mr. Middleton for the furtherance of this business. And that hisoffice of Chief-Justice should not lie dormant, he was commissioned toseek for affidavits or written testimony from any persons, for thepurpose of convicting these women of a design of atrociously revoltingagainst their son, and deposing him from the government, with a view ofgetting rid of the English inhabitants. This was the accusation; and theevidence to support it Sir Elijah Impey was sent to collect. 

My Lords, I must here observe to your Lordships that there is no act ofviolence which, merely as an act of violence, may not in some sort beborne: because an act of violence infers no principle; it infers nothingbut a momentary impulse of a bad mind, proceeding, without law orjustice, to the execution of its object. For at the same time that itpays no regard to law, it does not debauch it, it does not wrest it toits purposes: the law disregarded still exists; and hope still exists inthe 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 thatsuffer, but the law itself, when so corrupted, is often perverted intothe worst instrument of fraud and violence; it then becomes most odiousto mankind, and an infinite aggravation of every injury they suffer. 

We have therefore in our charge strongly reprobated Sir Elijah Impey'sgoing to take such affidavits. "Oh! but, " they say, "a judge may take anaffidavit in his chamber privately; and he may take an affidavit, thoughnot exactly in the place of his jurisdiction, to authenticate a bond, orthe like. "--We are not to be cheated by words. It is not dirty shreds ofworn-out parchments, the sweepings of Westminster Hall, that shall serveus in place of that justice upon, which the world stands. Affidavits! Weknow that in the language of our courts affidavits do not signify a bodyof evidence to sustain a criminal charge, but are generally relative tomatter [matters?] in process collateral to the charge, which, not comingbefore 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 ajudicial office under his Majesty should walk beyond the sphere of hisjurisdiction, --that he should desert the station in which he was placedfor the protection of the natives, and should march to such a place asLucknow in order to take depositions for criminating persons in thatcountry, without so much as letting these poor victims know one articlein the depositions so taken? These depositions, my Lords, were made tocriminate, they were meant to justify a forfeiture, and are not in thenature of those voluntary affidavits which, whether made withinjurisdiction or without, whether made publicly or privately, signifycomparatively nothing to the cause. I do not mean, to say that anyprocess of any court has not its weight, when the matter is within it inthe ordinary course of proceedings: it is the extraordinary course, theextrajudicial conduct, which divests it of that just weight it otherwisewould have. 

This chief-justice goes to Lucknow, where he holds his court, such as itwas. He is ready to authenticate any process by the signature of theEnglish chief-justice, in a court which he holds by night, in a courtwhich 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, andwithout giving him the least knowledge of or any notice of what he wasproceeding to do. He holds it at the lodgings of Colonel Morgan, apensioner of the Nabob; and the person assisting him is Mr. Middleton, who is likewise, as we have proved to you, one of the Nabob'spensioners, a monopolizer of trade in the country, and a person whoreceived 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 capitalcity, in the lodging of his dependant and pensioner, Colonel Morgan, with no other witness that we know of than Mr. Middleton, was thisiniquitous, dark procedure held, to criminate the mother of the Nabob. We here see a scene of dark, mysterious contrivance: let us now see whatis brought out in the face of open day. The attestations themselves, which you have seen on the record before you. They were broughtout--where? there? No: they were brought out in another place; they werebrought out at Calcutta, --but were never communicated to the Nabob. Henever knew anything of the matter. Let us now see what thoseattestations were. Your Lordships will bear in mind that I do not advertto this thing, which they bring as evidence, in the way of imputation ofits being weak, improper, and insufficient evidence, but as anincontrovertible proof of crimes, and of a systematic design to ruinthe accused party, by force there and by chicane here: these are theprinciples upon which I am going to talk to you upon this abominablesubject, --of which, I am sorry to say, I have no words sufficient toexpress my horror. No words can express it; nor can anything but theseverity 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 ofaffidavits was taken, I shall now state who the persons were that gaveit. They were those very persons who were guilty of robbing and ruiningthe whole country: yes, my Lords, the very persons who had been accusedof this in the mass by Mr. Hastings himself. They were nothing less thanthe whole body of those English officers who were usurping the office offarmers-general, and other lucrative offices in the Nabob's government, and whose pillage and peculations had raised a revolt of the wholekingdom against themselves. These persons are here brought in a mass toclear themselves of this charge by criminating other persons, andclandestinely imputing to them the effect of their own iniquity. 

But supposing these witnesses to be good for anything, supposing it fitthat the least attention should be paid them, the matter of theirtestimony may very possibly be true without criminating the Begum. Itcriminates Saadut Ali Khân, the brother of the Nabob; the word Begum isnever mentioned in the crimination but in conjunction with his; and muchthe greater part of it criminates the Nabob himself. Now, my Lords, Iwill say, that the matter of these affidavits, forgetting who thedeponents were, may possibly be true, as far as respects Saadut AliKhân, but that it is utterly as improbable, which is the main point andthe stress of the thing, with respect to the Begums, as it is impossiblewith respect to the Nabob. That Saadut Ali, being a military man, a manambitious and aspiring to greatness, should take advantage of the abusesof the English government and of the discontent of the country, that heshould, I say, raise a revolt against his brother is very possible; butit is scarcely within possibility that the mother of the Nabob shouldhave joined with the illegitimate son against her legitimate son. I canonly say that in human affairs there is the possibility of truth inthis. It is possible she might wish to depose her legitimate son, heronly legitimate son, and to depose him for the sake of a bastard son ofher 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 ownwrong. But I say, that this, though possible, is grossly improbable. Thereason why the Begum is implicated in this charge with Saadut Ali by theaffidavits cannot escape your notice. Their own acquittal might be theonly object of the deponents in their crimination of the latter; but thetreasures of the former were the objects of their employers, and thesetreasures could not be come at but by the destruction of the Begums. 

But, my Lords, there are other affidavits, or whatever your Lordshipsmay call them, that go much further. In order to give a color to theaccusation, and make it less improbable, they say that the Nabob himselfwas at the bottom of it, and that he joined with his brother and hismother to extirpate out of his dominions that horrible grievance, theEnglish brigade officers, --those English officers who were thefarmers-general, and who, as we have proved by Mr. Hastings's ownevidence, had ruined the country. Nothing is more natural than that aman, sensible of his duty to himself and his subjects, should form ascheme to get rid of a band of robbers that were destroying his countryand degrading and ruining his family. Thus you see a family compactnaturally accounted for: the Nabob at the head of it, his mother joiningher own son, and a natural brother joining in the general interests ofthe family. This is a possible case. But is this the case pressed bythem? No: they pass lightly over the legitimate son; they scarcely touchupon Saadut Ali Khân; they sink the only two persons that could giveprobability or possibility to this business, and endeavor to throw thewhole design upon these two unfortunate women. 

Your Lordships see the wickedness and baseness of the contrivance. Theyfirst, in order to keep the whole family in terror, accuse the wholefamily; then, having possessed themselves of the treasures of the Begumsupon another pretence, they endeavor to fix upon them that improbableguilt which they had with some degree of probability charged upon thewhole family, as a farther justification of that spoliation. YourLordships will see what an insult is offered to the Peers of GreatBritain, 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 theirknight-errant chief-justice, Sir Elijah Impey, who wandered in search ofa law adventure, I have laid open to your Lordships. You have now hadan account of the scandalous manufacture of that batch of affidavitswhich was in the budget of Sir Elijah Impey, --that Pandora's box which Ihave opened, and out of which has issued every kind of evil. Thischief-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 awitness in this business; he appears as a witness. How? Did he know anyone circumstance of the rebellion? No, he does not even pretend to doso. "But, " says he, "in my travels I was obliged to avoid Fyzabad, uponaccount of the suspected rebellion there. " Another chief-justice wouldhave gone fifty miles about to avoid Lucknow, for everybody knows thatLucknow was the focus and centre of extortion, corruption, andpeculation, and that a worse air for the lungs of a chief-justice couldnot 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 keptat a distance from the smell of carrion and putrid corruption of everykind that was at Lucknow. A chief-justice may go to a place where arebellion is raging, he may die a martyr to his honor; but achief-justice who puts himself into the focus of peculation, into thefocus of bribery, into the focus of everything that is base andcorrupt, --what can we expect from him but that he will be engaged inclandestine jobs there? The former might kill Sir Elijah Impey, theknight-errant, but the chief-justice would remain pure and entire;whereas Sir Elijah Impey has escaped from Lucknow, and the chief-justiceis left by Mr. Hastings to shift for himself. 

After mentioning this violation of the laws of hospitality by Sir ElijahImpey, 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 inthis matter? Was any notice given to the Begums that any such charge wasentertained against them? Not a word. Was it notified to the eunuchs?Was it to Saadut Ali Khân? Not a word. They were all within their power. The eunuchs were a year in irons, and they were subjected to the want offood and water for a part of that year. They were dragged from Fyzabadto Lucknow, and from Lucknow to Fyzabad. During all that time was therea 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 condemnationthis recriminatory defence, in which every principle of justice has beenviolated. And now I will ask your Lordships whether you would havesuffered such a procedure in the case of the prisoner at your bar. Itwas asked by a person of great authority in this House, when we weregoing to produce certain evidence against Mr. Hastings, (we do not saywhether we offered to produce it properly or improperly, --that isanother matter, )--we were asked, I say, whether our intentions ofproducing that evidence had been communicated to Mr. Hastings. Had hehad an opportunity of cross-examining the witnesses who had given thatevidence? No, he added, that evidence must be rejected. Now I say toyour Lordships, upon the same ground, deal with the Begums as you dealtwith Mr. Hastings. Do not keep two weights and measures for differentpersons in the same cause. You would not suffer such evidence to beproduced against him; you will not assuredly suffer such evidence to beproduced to you in his favor and against them. 

My Lords, the cause between this man and these unfortunate women is atlast come into Westminster Hall; the cause is come to a solemn trial;and we demand other witnesses and other kinds of proof than what theseaffidavits furnish. My Lords, the persons who have been examined hereare almost all of them the same persons who made these affidavits; butthere is this material difference in their evidence: at your Lordships'bar they sunk all those parts of their former evidence which criminatedthe Nabob and Saadut Ali, and confined their testimony wholly to whatrelated to the Begums. We were obliged, by a cross-examination, tosqueeze out of them the disavowal of what they had deposed on the formeroccasion. The whole of their evidence we leave to the judgment of yourLordships, with these summary remarks: first, that they are the personswho were to profit by their own wrong; they are the persons who hadseven months' arrears paid to them out of the money of these unfortunateladies; they are the persons who, to justify the revolt which they hadcaused in the country by their robbery, charge their own guilt uponothers. The credibility of their evidence is therefore gone. But if itwere not affected by these circumstances, Mr. Hastings has put an end toit by telling you that there is not one of them who is to be creditedupon his oath, --no, not in a court-martial; and can it, therefore, beexpected that in a case of peculation they will do otherwise than acquitthe party accused? He has himself laid before you the horrible state ofthe whole service; your Lordships have it fresh in your memories, andringing in your ears. You have also heard from witnesses brought by Mr. Hastings himself, that these soldiers committed misdemeanors of the verysame kind with those which we have stated. They ought not, therefore, tobe listened to for a moment; and we aver that it is an aggravation ofthe prisoner's crimes, that he has brought the instruments of his guilt, the persons of whom he has complained as having ruined and destroyedthat country, and whom he had engaged, at the Nabob's desire, in thetreaty of Chunar, to send out of the country, as being a nuisance init, --to bring, I say, these people here, to criminate, at a distance ofnine thousand miles, these unfortunate women, where they have neitherattorney or agent who can from local knowledge cross-examine them. Hehas the audacity to bring these people here; and in what manner theycomport 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 theBegums, did it by rumors and hearsays. They had heard some person saythat the Begums had encouraged rebellion, always coupling them withSaadut Ali Khân, and sometimes with the Nabob, because there might havebeen some probability for their charge in the transactions with SaadutAli Khân, which, though impossible with regard to the Begums, theythought would implicate him [them?] in his designs. But Captain Gordonis to give a different account of the proceedings. 

Captain Gordon was one of Colonel Hannay's under-farmers. He was huntedout of the country and, as one of the Begums says, pursued by athousand of the zemindars, for robbing the whole country. This woman, through respect to the British name, that name which guarantied herpossessions to her, receives this Captain Gordon and Captain Williamswith every mark of kindness, hospitality, and protection, that could begiven 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 ofexpressions of gratitude and kindness for the services that they hadreceived. They then pass on to Lucknow to Sir Elijah Impey, and therethey sink every word of kindness, of any service or protection that theyhad 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 MajorGilpin, who was examined in the course of these proceedings; and we usedit in our charge, from the papers that we hold in our hands. Mr. Hastings has confessed the fact; and Mr. Middleton has endeavored toslur it over, but could not completely conceal it. We have establishedthe fact, and it is in evidence before your Lordships. 

You have now, then, in this manner, got these testimonials given byEnglish officers in favor of these women; and by the same means theletters of the latter accusing the former are come to your hands: andnow these same English officers come here with their recriminatoryaccusation. 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 thecircumstances whilst he was in India? I will read your Lordships theletter, that you may not only know, but feel, the iniquity of thisbusiness. 

 _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 Khân to you. Accordingly people invented a falsehood, that Behar Ali Khân was gone to get the deputyship of the Subah; and some persons here were saying, 'Wherefore has she sent Behar Ali Khân 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 Khân, and Hyder Beg Khân, 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 Khân, and Hyder Beg Khân, 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 Lordshipswill remark upon this letter, for it is a most important one indeed. Itis hardly worth observing that all this correspondence came out of thevarious trunks of which your Lordships have already heard, and that thisletter is out of the trunk of Mr. Hastings's private Persian secretaryand interpreter, Mr. Jonathan Scott. Now, my Lords, in this letter thereare several things worthy of your Lordships' observation. The first is, that this woman is not conscious of having ever been accused of anyrebellion: the only accusation that ever came to her ears was, thatCaptain Gordon said that his baggage had been robbed by one of heraumils. She denies the truth of this charge; and she producestestimonials of their good behavior to him; and, what is the essentialpoint 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 thataccusation, and what weight there is in the attestation she produces. "Mr. Gordon is now present, " says she; "ask him yourself of thesematters. " This reasonable request was not complied with. Mr. Gordonswears before Sir Elijah Impey to the robbery; but he never mentions thepaper he had written, in which he confessed that he owed his life tothis very lady. No inquiry was made into this matter. Colonel Hannaywas then alive. Captain Gordon was alive, and she refers to him: yetthat very man was sworn before Sir Elijah Impey, and accuses hisprisoner. Did the prisoner at your bar make that attestation known tothe 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 theinquiry from Captain Gordon?

Mr. Hastings is acquainted with the facts stated by the Begum, and withCaptain Gordon's accusation. Did he afterwards inform her of thisaccusation? or did he ask this Captain Gordon one question in India, where the matter might be ventilated? Not one word, my Lords. Thereforewe fix upon him fraud, deceit, and the production of false evidence, after the woman had desired to have the man who was the evidence againsther examined upon the spot. This he does not do, but with much moreprudence he brings him here. And for what? To discredit his owntestimony, and the written evidence. And how does he discredit them?There are two of these papers, which I beg leave to read to yourLordships. 

 _Copy of a Letter to Jewar and Behar Ali Khân, 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 serviceswere concealed, when the charge was made against this woman at Lucknowbefore Sir Elijah Impey: I wish to impress this upon your Lordships'mind; and that before Mr. Hastings left Bengal, in the trunk of MajorScott, his private Persian interpreter, was this letter. Did he makethat inquiry of Captain Gordon? No. Did he make that inquiry of ColonelHannay? Did he make any inquiry into the matter, after his perusal ofthese letters? Or did he give this poor woman any opportunity ofobtaining justice against this Captain Gordon, who, after acknowledgingthat he owed his life to her favor, calumniates and traduces her to herutter destruction? No, he never did; and therefore he is chargeable, andI charge him, with everything that is wrongful in Captain Gordon'sevidence. 

These papers, which carry with them a clear refutation of all thecharges against the Begum, are never once produced, though CaptainGordon was referred to expressly for inquiry and explanation of thewhole transaction by the woman herself. You hear nothing of them; thereis no appearance of them in the affidavits; no such papers were laidbefore the Supreme Council; none were transmitted to the Court ofDirectors: but at last the House of Commons having come at the truth ofthis matter, Mr. Hastings, not daring to deny the existence of thesepapers, brings Captain Gordon to be examined here, in order to provethat papers which he had himself written were false. Is this to betolerated? What will your Lordships think of a man that comes to attesthis own infamy, --to declare that he has written papers containingfalsehoods, and to invalidate the false testimony which he had beforegiven? Is he to be suffered, I say, to come here, and endeavor to provethe absolute falsity of his own deeds by his own evidence?

The next point for your Lordships' consideration is the evidence whichhe produces to prove the falsity of a paper written by himself. Why, hehimself 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 personwith me as an escort, and this person was desirous of receiving someproof that he had done his duty; and therefore I wrote a complaisantletter. I meant nothing by it. It was written merely to satisfy the mindof 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 hisduty, " this explanation might pass. But you see it has anothercomplexion. It speaks of his owing his life to her. But if you admitthat it is possible (for possibilities have an unknown extent) that hewrote such a letter at such a time and for such a purpose, and that theletter he wrote was false, and that the falsity of the letter is provedby his own testimony given in an affidavit which we have also reason tobelieve is false, your Lordships must at the same time admit that it isone 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 isanother letter, written some days after, which I will read to you, andwhich he has not pretended to say was written only to testify that amessenger had executed his commission properly. 

"Your gracious letter, " (he thus writes, ) "in answer to the petition ofyour servant from Goondah, exalted me. From the contents, I becameunspeakably impressed with the honor it conferred. "

My Lords, this letter was not sent back by a messenger, inacknowledgment of his having done his duty, but was written inconsequence of a correspondence in the nature of a petition forsomething or other which he made to the Begum. That petition they havesuppressed and sunk. It is plain, however, that the petition had beensent, and was granted; and therefore the apology that is made for theformer letter does not apply to this letter, which was writtenafterwards. 

How, then, do they attempt to get rid of this difficulty? Why, saysCaptain Gordon, "_The Colonel Saib_ (by whom was meant Colonel Hannay)was not at Goondah, as stated in the letter, but at Succara, abouteighteen miles from it, and therefore you ought not to pay much regardto this paper. " But he does not deny the letter, nor was it possible forhim to deny it. He says Colonel Hannay was not there. But how do we knowwhether Colonel Hannay was there or not? We have only his own word forit. But supposing he was not there, and that it was clearly proved thathe was eighteen miles distant from it, Major Naylor was certainly withCaptain Gordon at the time. Might not his Persian scribe (for he doesnot pretend to say he wrote the letter himself) take Major Naylor for acolonel, (for he was the superior officer to Captain Gordon, ) and thinkhim the Colonel Saib? For errors of that kind may be committed in ourown 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 wasin as high rank as Colonel Hannay; for Colonel Hannay at that time wasonly a major. I do not believe either of them was properly entitled tothe name of Colonel Saib. I am ashamed, my Lords, to be obliged toremark upon this prevarication. Their own endeavors to get rid of theirown written acts by contradictory evidence and false constructionssufficiently 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 produceCaptain Gordon here, how he dares thus to insult the Peers, how he daresthus to insult the public justice of his country, after not having daredto inquire, upon the spot, of this man, to whom he was referred by theBegums for an account of this very transaction?

I hope your Lordships have got enough of this kind of evidence. All therest is of the same batch, and of the same description, --made up ofnothing but hearsays, except in one particular only. This I shall nowmention to your Lordships. Colonel Popham and another gentleman havetold you, that, in a battle with Cheyt Sing's forces, they tookprisoners two wounded nudjeeves or swordsmen, and that these men toldthem that they were sent there by the Begums, --that they had got tworupees and two wounds, but that they thought two rupees a badcompensation for two wounds. These two men, with their two wounds andtwo rupees, had, however, been dismissed. It does not appear that thisaccident was considered by these officers to be of consequence enough tomake them ever tell one word of it to Mr. Hastings, though they knew hewas 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; becauseI consider it as one of the most outrageous violations of yourLordships' dignity, and the greatest insult that was ever offered to acourt of justice. A nudjeeve is a soldier armed with a sword. It appearsin evidence that the Nabob had several corps of nudjeeves in hisservice; that the Begums had some nudjeeves; and that Colonel Hannay hada corps of nudjeeves. It is well known that every prince in Hindostanhas soldiers of that description, --in like manner, probably, as theprinces 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 theplace from which they were supposed to come, who were not regularlyexamined, not cross-examined, not even kept for examination, and whoseevidence was never reported, is to be a reason why you are to believethat these Begums were concerned in a rebellion against their son, anddeserved to forfeit all their lands and goods, and to suffer theindignities that we have stated. 

My Lords, I am really ashamed to mention so scandalous a thing; but letus put a case: let us suppose that we had accused Mr. Hastings ofinstigating 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 anofficer had taken two nudjeeves, who declared they were instigated byMr. Hastings to go into the service of that Rajah: could you bear such athing? would you suffer such evidence to be produced? or do you thinkthat we should have so little regard for our own reputation as toventure 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 appearedbefore nor since, that two grenadiers in English uniforms, (which wouldbe a great deal stronger than the case of the nudjeeves, because theyhave no particular uniform belonging to them, ) that two Englishgrenadiers, I say, had been taken prisoners in some action and let goagain, who said that Mr. Hastings had instigated them to make war uponthe Begums: would your Lordships suffer such evidence to be producedbefore you? No. And yet two of the first women in India are to bestripped of all they have in the world upon no better evidence than thatwhich you would utterly reject. You would not disgrace the Britishpeerage, you would not disgrace this court of justice, you would notdisgrace human reason itself, by confiscating, on such evidence, themeanest property of the meanest wretch. You would not subject to thesmallest fine for the smallest delinquency, upon such evidence. I willventure to say, that, in an action of assault and battery, or in anaction for the smallest sum, such evidence would be scouted as odiousand contemptible, even supposing that a perfect reliance might be placedupon its truth. And yet this is the sort of evidence upon which theproperty, the dignity, and the rank of some of the first persons in Asiaare to be destroyed, --by which a British guaranty, and the honor anddignity 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 sentby the Begums. Now they could not be sent by the Begums in their ownperson. This was a thing in India impossible. They might, indeed, havebeen sent by Jewar and Behar Ali Khân: and then we ask again, How camethese ministers not to be called to an account at the time? Why werethey not called upon for their muster-rolls of these nudjeeves? No, these men and women suffer the penalty, but they never hear theaccusation nor the evidence. 

But to proceed with the evidence of this pretended rebellion. CaptainWilliams has told your Lordships that he once had a great number ofletters and papers to prove this rebellion of the Begums. But hedeclares that he has lost all these letters. A search was ordered to bemade in Mr. Hastings's record-office, called a trunk; and accordingly inthe trunk is found a paper worthy of such a place and such a cause. Thisletter, which has been made use of to criminate the Begums, has nottheir names mentioned, nor is there any possibility of their beingincluded in it. By this paper which is preserved you may judge of thewhole of the papers that are lost. Such a letter, I believe, was neverbefore brought as evidence in a court of justice. It is a letter said tohave 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 forthe recruiting service, --it should seem, by the word "presence, "somebody employed in enlisting forces for the Nabob. The charge againstthe Begum was, that she had joined with the rebellious Rajahs toexterminate her son's government and the English influence in thatcountry. In this very paper you see that the soldiers entering into thatservice, and officers who are to contract for soldiers, are expresslybound not to join the Rajahs; and this they produce as proof that theBegums had joined the Rajahs, and had joined them in a rebellion, forthe purpose of exterminating their son, in the first instance, and theEnglish afterwards. 

There is another circumstance which makes their own acts the refutationof their false pretences. This letter says that the country isdisaffected, and it mentions the ill-disposed parts of the country. Nowwe all know that the country was ill-disposed; and we may thereforeconclude this paper was written by, and addressed to, some person whowas employed against the persons so ill-disposed, --namely, the veryRajahs so mentioned before. The prisoner's counsel, after producing thispaper, had the candor to declare that they did not see what use could bemade of it. No, to be sure, they do not see what use can be made of itfor their cause; but I see the use that can be made of it against theircause. I say that the lost papers, upon which they do so much insist, deserve no consideration, when the only paper that they have preservedoperates directly against them; and that therefore we may safely infer, that, if we had the rest of the contents of this trunk, we shouldprobably find them make as strongly against them as this paper does. Youhave no reason to judge of them otherwise than by the specimen: for howcan you judge of what is lost but from what remains?

The man who hid these papers in his trunk never understood one word ofthe Persian language, and consequently was liable to every kind ofmistake, even though he meant well. But who is this man? Why, it isCaptain Williams, --the man who in his affidavits never mentioned theBegums without mentioning Saadut Ali. It is Captain Williams, --whom wecharge to have murdered a principal man of the country by his own hand, without law or legal process. It is Captain Williams, --one of thoseBritish officers whom Mr. Hastings states to be the pests of thecountry. 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 thatsuch a man _believes_ such a man _heard of something_; and to close thewhole of this hearsay account, Sir Elijah Impey, who always comes in asa supplement, declares that no man doubted of the existence of thisrebellion, and of the guilt of the Begums, any more than of therebellion of 1745: a comparison which, I must say, is, by way ofevidence, a little indecorous in a chief-justice of India. YourLordships are sufficiently acquainted with the history of that rebellionto know, that, when Lord Lovat was tried at this bar, the proceedingsagainst him were not founded on second-hand hearsay. The existence ofthe rebellion of 1745 was proved, notwithstanding its notoriety; butneither notoriety nor proof would have signified anything, if LordLovat's participation in it had not been brought home to him directly, personally, and particularly. Yet a chief-justice, sent to India torepresent the sacred majesty of the crown of England, has gone so far asto say at your bar that no more doubt could be entertained of theexistence either of the rebellion or the guilt of the Begums than of therebellion in 1745. Besides, he forgets that he himself carried the orderto confiscate these people's property without any trial whatever. Butthis is the way of proceeding by an English chief-justice in India, --achief-justice who had rendered himself the instrument, theletter-carrier, the messenger, I had almost said the executioner of Mr. Hastings. 

From this view of the whole matter your Lordships will form an estimateof the spirit of Indian government and Indian justice. But to blow awayand to put an end to all their false pretences, their hearsays, and talkof nudjeeves, and wounds, and the like, I ask, Who is the first witnessthat we have produced upon this occasion? It is the Nabob himself, negativing all these pretences. Did he believe them? Not a word from himof any rebellion, actual or suspected. Sir Elijah Impey, indeed, saidthat 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 thejustice of India, what will become of the natives, if you, theirlegitimate 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 thisrebellion, takes leave of Mr. Hastings at the very moment when it israging in the highest possible degree, and gallops into its very focus. 

And under what circumstances does he do this? He had brought someconsiderable forces with him. No man of his rank in that country evergoes without them. He left a part of these forces with Mr. Hastings, notwithstanding he was going into the centre of the rebellion. He thenwent on with a corps of about a thousand horse. He even left a part ofthese with Mr. Middleton, and galloped, attended by a few horse, intothe very capital, where the Begums, we are told, had ten thousand armedmen. He put himself into their power, and, not satisfied with this, thevery first thing we hear of him after his arrival is, that he paid hismother a friendly visit, --thus rushing into the den of a lioness who wasgoing to destroy her own whelp. Is it to be credited, my Lords, that aprince would act thus who believed that a conspiracy was formed againsthim by his own mother? Is it to be credited that any man would trust amother who, contrary to all the rules of Nature and policy, hadconspired 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, hisattendant at Chunar, and his attendant back again. I am not producingthis to exculpate the Begums, --for I say you cannot try them here, youhave not the parties before you, they ought to have been tried on thespot, --but I am going to demonstrate the iniquity of this abominableplot beyond all doubt: for it is necessary your Lordships should knowthe length, breadth, and depth of this mystery of iniquity. 

Captain Edwards being asked, --"Whether he ever heard any native ofcredit and authority in the Nabob's dominions, who appeared to believethe rebellion of the Begums?--_A. _ No, I never did. --_Q. _ Have you anyreason to believe that the Nabob gave credit to it?--_A. _ I reallycannot rightly presume to say whether the Nabob did or did not; but I amapt to believe that he did not. --_Q. _ Have you any reason, and what, toform a belief about it?--_A. _ I have. I think, if he supposed therebellion, ever existed at Fyzabad, he would have been the first personto take and give the alarm to the British troops. --_Q. _ And no suchalarm 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 certainlymust have known it or heard of it; but I never did. "

We assure your Lordships, you will find upon your printed Minutes, thatCaptain Edwards says he was credibly informed that the Nabob left behindhim a part of his guard of horse; and that, so desirous was he to gointo the power of this cruel lioness, his mother, that he advanced, ashe is a vigorous man, and a bold and spirited rider, leaving all hisguards behind him, and rode before them into the middle of Fyzabad. There is some more evidence to the same purpose in answer to thequestion put next to that which I read before. 

"_Q. _ When you did hear of the rebellion, did not you understand it tohave been alleged that one object of it was to dethrone the Nabobhimself, as well as to extirpate the English?--_A. _ I understood thatthe intention of the princesses, the Begums, was to extirpate theEnglish troops out of the country and out of those dominions, andlikewise to depose her son, and set another son, who seems to have beena greater favorite of that family, upon the throne, in the room of thepresent Nabob; and that son's name is Saadut Ali. I have only heard thisfrom report. I have no other knowledge but mere report. I understoodfrom the report, she was to extirpate the English, and depose her sonwho is now upon the throne. --_Q. _ Was it after or before the seizing ofthe treasures, that you heard a circumstantial account of the supposedobject of the rebellion?--_A. _ The report was more general after theseizing of the treasures; but yet there were reports prevailing in theneighborhood that our troops were sent there in consequence of thecharge that was made by Colonel Hannay and some of his officers ofrebellion existing then at Fyzabad, or having existed, I cannot rightlysay which. --_Q. _ Was that report after the order for the troops to marchto Fyzabad?--_A. _ It was more general, it was very general then when thetroops did march there, and more general after the seizing of thetreasures. --_Q. _ When did the troops first march?--_A. _ It was some timein the month of January, I believe, in the year 1782. --_Q. _ While youwas with the Nabob in passing from Lucknow to Chunar, and while you waswith him or the army returning from Chunar, did you then, out of thewhole army, regular or irregular, ever hear of any report of the Begumsbeing in rebellion?--_A. _ No, I do not recollect I ever did. --_Q. (Uponcross-examination. )_ Do you recollect at what time in August, 1781, youleft Lucknow to proceed with the Nabob to Chunar?--_A. _ No, I cannotrightly mention the date: all that I know is this, that I accompaniedthe Nabob, Mr. Middleton, and his attendants, all the way from Lucknowto Chunargur. I really cannot recollect; I have no notes, and it is sodistant a time since that I do not recollect the particulars of themonth or the day; but I recollect perfectly I accompanied the Nabob allthe way from Lucknow to Chunar, and returned again with him until hestruck off on the road for Fyzabad. "

Your Lordships see plainly the whole of this matter. When they hadresolved to seize the Begums' treasures, they propagated this reportjust in proportion to their acts. As they proceeded, the report grewhotter and hotter. This man tells you when it was that the propagationof this report first began, when it grew hot, and when it was in itsgreatest heat. He tells you that not one native of credit in the countrybelieved it, --that he did not think the Nabob himself believed it; andhe 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 arebellion, as he was to be the object of it. He says the English werethe principal spreaders of the report. It was, in fact, a wicked report, propagated by Mr. Middleton and the English agents for the purpose ofjustifying their iniquitous spoliation of the Begums. 

This is the manner in which the matter stands upon the ground ofrebellion, with the exception of Major Gilpin's and Hyder Beg Khân'stestimony. This last man we have proved to have been kept in his officeby Mr. Hastings's influence, and to have been entirely under hisgovernment. When this dependant comes to give his attestation, he givesa long account of all the proceedings of Cheyt Sing's rebellion, withwhich the rebellion charged on the Begums was supposed to be coincident;and he ends it very remarkably, --that he tells the whole truth, andnothing but the truth. But it is also remarkable, that even this HyderBeg Khân never mentions by name the rebellion of the Begums, nor saysthat 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 forthis charge. He had the Begums and their eunuchs under his custody for afull year; he was strictly ordered to watch them and to guard them; andduring all that time he lived at Fyzabad. He was the man who commandedthe troops, who had all the witnesses in his power, who had daily accessto all parties at Fyzabad, and who, moreover, was a person attached toMr. Hastings in the strongest manner. Your Lordships will now be pleasedto 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 verygood opportunity of knowing, from the circumstance of my havingcommanded so long there. The elder Begum, it was generally understood, (and I have reason to believe, ) was disaffected to our government; andmy sentiments of her conduct stand recorded in my correspondence to thecourt of Lucknow to that effect; but with respect to the Bhow Begum, Iacquit her entirely of any disaffection to our government, so far ascomes to my knowledge: appearances were for some time against her; but, on cool, deliberate inquiry, I found there was no ground for supposingher guilty of any rebellious principles, at the time of Cheyt Sing'srebellion. --_Q. _ Whether that, according to your belief, is not yourpresent opinion?--_A. _ I think I have answered that very fully, that itwas upon those very principles that I did form an opinion of herinnocence; how far they are justifiable or right I will not take upon meto say upon oath; there was no one circumstance that came to myknowledge, during my residence at Fyzabad or my residence in India, thatI would wish to withhold from your Lordships. --_Q. _ You state here, 'upon cool, deliberate inquiry': what was that cool, deliberateinquiry?--_A. _ That cool, deliberate inquiry was the conversations I hadwith the ministers and the people of Fyzabad, and the letters fromherself expressing her innocence; and it appeared to me from thoseletters 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 withrespect to both the Begums, but that you was induced to alter thatopinion with respect to the younger Begum, in consequence of Mr. Gordon's letters, and the intelligence of some of her ministers andother persons: were not those other persons in the interest of theyounger Begum?--_A. _ In general the town of Fyzabad were in herinterest. --_Q. _ In what sense do you mean generally in her interest?Were the persons you conversed with merely those who were in her serviceand household, or the inhabitants of Fyzabad in general?--_A. _ Both: Iheld conversations with both her own body-servants and the inhabitantsof 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 actsof rebellion, in the common acceptation of the word. --_Q. _ Againstwhom?--_A. _ Against the Nabob's government and the British governmentjointly: but I beg to know the particular time and circumstance thequestion alludes to. --_Q. _ I understand you to have said you understoodthe elder Begum was in a constant state of rebellion. In what sense doyou use the word rebellion? Did you say the elder Begum was in aconstant state of rebellion?--_A. _ I always understood her to bedisaffected to the English government: it might not be a properexpression of mine, the word rebellion. --_Q. _ Do you know of any act bythe elder Begum against the Vizier?--_A. _ I cannot state any. --_Q. _ Doyou know of any act which you call rebellion, committed by the elderBegum against the Company?--_A. _ I do not know of any particularcircumstance, only it was generally supposed that she was disaffected tothe Company. --_Q. _ What acts of disaffection or hostility towards theEnglish do you allude to, when you speak of the conversation of theworld at the time?--_A. _ I have answered that question as fully as Ican, --that it was nothing but conversation, --that I knew of noparticular 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 notbelieve 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 ina secondary degree, and as conspiring with the other, he says he knowsno facts against her, except that at the battle of Buxar, in the year1764, she had used some odd expressions concerning the English, who werethen at war with her son Sujah Dowlah. This was long before we had anyempire or pretence to empire in that part of India: therefore theexpression of a rebellion, which he had used with regard to her, was, heacknowledged, improper, and that he only meant he had formed someopinion 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 centreof the alleged rebellion, and who was in possession of all the personsfrom whom information was to be got, who had the eunuchs in prison, andmight have charged them with this rebellion, and might have examined andcross-examined them at his pleasure, --if this man knew nothing about it, your Lordships will judge of the falsehood of this wicked rumor, spreadabout from hand to hand, and which was circulated by persons who at thesame time have declared that they never heard of it before Sir ElijahImpey went up into the country, the messenger of Mr. Hastings's ordersto seize the treasures of the Begums, and commissioned to procureevidence in justification of that violence and robbery. 

I now go to another part of this evidence. There is a person they callHoolas Roy, --a man in the employment of the Resident, Mr. Middleton. Thegentlemen who are counsel for the prisoner have exclaimed, "Oh! he wasnothing but a news-writer. What! do you take any notice of him?" YourLordships would imagine that the man whom they treat in this manner, andwhose negative evidence they think fit to despise, was no better thanthe writers of those scandalous paragraphs which are published in ourdaily papers, to misrepresent the proceedings of this court to thepublic. But who in fact is this Hoolas Roy, whom they represent, for theconvenience of the day, to be nothing but a news-writer? I will read toyour Lordships a letter from Major Naylor to Colonel Jaques, commandingthe 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 thusof 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 someinstructions which do not indeed appear, but were accompanied by anorder from Mr. Middleton. "When these instructions shall come to you, toput these prisoners in irons and keep them without food, &c. " The Begumssay, without food and water. _Et cetera_ are words of large import; buthe was "to keep them without food, &c. , agreeable to my instructions ofyesterday. " This was a pretty general warrant for sufferings. ThisHoolas Roy, this mere news-writer, was not only intrusted with thiswarrant, but Mr. Middleton declares him to be a person who was to bereceived 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 tomake slight of an observation we made, and which I shall make again, andwhom they affect to consider as a mere paragraph-monger in somescandalous newspaper, was a man vested by Mr. Middleton with authorityequal to that of the Nabob himself. 

Mr. Hastings not only thought him of consequence enough to be a witnessto the severities used on the ministers of the Begums, but he consideredthat he would afterwards be a fit witness to the rebellion. I pray yourLordships to mark this: he sent for this Hoolas Roy, (who is now nothingbut a mere paragraph-monger, )--he sent for him from Fyzabad toBenares, --a pretty long journey; and at last caused him to be examinedbefore Sir Elijah Impey. He has, however, sunk his evidence: asuppression which is strongly in favor of the Begums, and equally strongagainst their accuser. Here we have a man who was intrusted with alltheir orders, --who represented the English government, --who representedthe Nabob's government: this man is sent for by Mr. Hastings; he giveshis deposition before Sir Elijah Impey; and the deposition so given isnot to be found either upon the Company's record, in Sir Elijah Impey'strunk, in Jonathan Scott's trunk, nor in any other place whatever. Theevidence of a witness who could speak most clearly, as probably he did, and most decisively, upon this subject, is sunk. They suppress, and darenot produce, the affidavit of the man who was at the bottom of everysecret of both governments. They had the folly to let you know, obliquely, that he had been sent for by Mr. Hastings, but they concealthe information obtained from him: a silence more damning than anypositive evidence could be. You have here a proof of their practice ofproducing such evidence only as they thought most favorable to theirwicked purposes, in the destruction of this great and ancient family. 

But all the English, they say, believed in the existence of thisrebellion. This we deny. Mr. Purling, who was Resident the year beforeits pretended explosion, has told you that he never knew of anythinglike a plot carrying on by these women. We were almost ashamed to putthe question to him. Did Mr. Bristow, the next Resident, know orbelieve in this plot? He seems, indeed, to have been induced to givesome oblique hints to Mr. Hastings of improper conduct on the part ofthe Begums, but without stating what it was. In a letter to Mr. Hastings, he appears to endeavor to soften the cruel temper of thisinflexible man by going a little way with him, by admitting that hethought they had behaved improperly. When Mr. Wombwell, anotherResident, is asked whether any Englishman doubted of it, he says Mr. Bristow doubted of it. No one, indeed, who reads these papers, can avoidseeing that Mr. Bristow did not believe one word of it, --no more, infact, than did Mr. Hastings, or anybody else. 

But, my Lords, let us go from these inferior agents and servants of theCompany to their higher officers. Did Mr. Stables believe it? Thisgentleman was Mr. Hastings's colleague in the Council, --a man of asmuch honor, I really believe, as ever went to India, --a faithful oldservant of the Company, and very worthy of credit. I believe there isnot a spot upon him during all his long service under the Company: ifany, 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 thepersons authorized to investigate it coolly, and most able to do so. 

Upon the whole, then, the persons who best knew the state of the countrydid not believe it; the Nabob did not believe it; the Begums were nevercharged with it; no ground of suspicion is suggested, except looserumors and the story of two nudjeeves. Under these circumstances thetreasures of these ancient ladies were seized, their propertyconfiscated, and the Nabob dragged most reluctantly to this act. Yes, my Lords, this poor, miserable victim was forced to violate all the lawsof Nature, all decency, all property, to rob his own mother, for thebenefit of Mr. Hastings. All this he was forced to do: he was made thereluctant instrument of punishing his mother and grandmother for a plotof which even their accusers do not pretend to say that the partiesaccused had ever received any intimation. 

My Lords, in forming your judgment upon this nefarious proceeding, yourLordships will not fail to advert to the fundamental principles, theacknowledged maxims and established rules, of all judgment andjustice, --that conviction ought to precede execution, that trial oughtto precede conviction, and that a prosecutor's information and evidenceought to be the preliminary step and substance of the trial. Hereeverything was reversed: Sir Elijah Impey goes up with the order forexecution; the party accused is neither arraigned nor tried; this sameSir Elijah then proceeds to seek for witnesses and to take affidavits;and in the mean time neither the Nabob, the ostensible prosecutor, norhis mother and grandmother, the parties accused, knew one word of thematter. 

But possibly some peculiarity in the circumstances of the case renderedsuch a proceeding necessary, and may justify it. No such peculiarity hasbeen proved or even alleged; nay, it is in the highest degree improbablethat it could have existed. Mr. Hastings had another opportunity ofdoing himself justice. When an account of this business was transmittedto the Court of Directors, they ordered him to inquire into it: and yourLordships will see what he did in consequence of this order. YourLordships will then judge of the extreme audacity of the defence whichhe has made of this act at your bar, after having refused to instituteany inquiry into it, although, he had the positive order of the Court ofDirectors, and was in the place where that inquiry could be madeeffectually, and in the place where the unfortunate women could have anopportunity of clearing themselves. 

I will first read to your Lordships an extract from the letter of theCourt 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 falseimpressions. They had conceived an idea, that, after the rebellion ofCheyt Sing, (but not before, upon his own showing, ) the Begums had showna disposition to arm. They here assume a false fact, which Mr. Hastingsstated in his representation of the business to them. They assume avariety of other false facts: they assume that the amount of thejaghires of the Begums were to be paid them in regular pensions; whereasthey were totally confiscated, without any compensation at all. And yet, upon Mr. Hastings's own showing, they found the transaction to be sodishonorable to the British government, that they desire him to makeinquiry 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, aftergiving him credit for that enormous mass of falsehoods which we haveproved him to have stated in his Narrative, found themselves so utterlydissatisfied, that they gave this conditional order to restore theBegums to their jaghires. Your Lordships will find it in evidence uponyour minutes, that he contumaciously disobeyed this order, --that hewould not consent to the propositions of the Council for inquiring intothe conduct of these injured women, but stifled every attempt that wasmade by others to do them justice. And yet he here has the effrontery topropose that your Lordships should inquire into the business at yourbar, --that you should investigate a matter here which he refused toinquire into on the spot, though expressly ordered by his masters so todo. 

I will now read to your Lordships a short extract from his own narrativeof his own proceedings. It begins with reciting part of a note enteredby Mr. Macpherson in the Consultations of the Council, at the time whenthe orders of the Court of Directors which I have just alluded to weretaken into consideration. 

"What the Court of Directors seem to have most at heart are, first, thatthe engagement of the second article of the Benares treaty should befaithfully fulfilled, --and, secondly, to guard against the futuremisconduct of the Vizier, if he should be disposed to oppress theBegums; that we should therefore ascertain whether the amount of thejaghires of the Begums is regularly paid to them through the Company'sResident, and give them notice that no future demands shall be made uponthem. This the Governor-General might, I think, do in a letter thatwould make the Begums sensible of their past misconduct, yet inform themof the lenity and gracious intentions of the Company, in ordering theman asylum in Bengal, in case of future distress. "

In consequence of the foregoing opinion from Mr. Macpherson, thefollowing minute was delivered by the Governor-General. 

"I should gladly acquiesce in the motion made by Mr. Macpherson, if Ithought it possible to frame a letter to the Begums in any terms whichshould at the same time convey the intimation proposed by it and notdefeat the purpose of it, or be productive of evils greater than anywhich exist in consequence of the proceedings which have already takenplace, and which time has almost obliterated. The orders of the Court ofDirectors are conditional; they require nothing, but in the event ofdiscoveries made subsequent to the advices which were before you on the14th February last, in alleviation of the former conduct of the Begums. Nothing has since appeared in relation to them, but their refusal, orrather that of one, to fulfil her engagements for the payment of theremainder of the sum exacted from her by the Nabob Vizier in thebeginning of last year. Whatever obedience may be due to the clearascertained spirit of the orders of the Court of Directors, thisobligation cannot extend to points to which neither the letter norevident spirit of their orders apply. If I am rightly informed, theNabob Vizier and the Begums are on terms of mutual good-will. It wouldill become this government to interpose its influence by any act whichmight tend to revive their animosities: and a very slight occasion wouldbe sufficient to effect it. It will be to little purpose to tell themthat their conduct has, in our estimation of it, been very wrong, and atthe same time to announce to them the orders of our superiors, whichmore than indicate the reverse. They will instantly take fire on such adeclaration, proclaim the judgment of the Company in their favor, demanda reparation of the acts which they will construe wrongs with such asentence warranting that construction, --and either accept theinvitation, to the proclaimed scandal of the Vizier, which will not addto the credit of our government, or remain in his dominions, but notunder his authority, to add to his vexations and the disorders of thecountry, by continual intrigues and seditions. Enough already exists toaffect his peace, and the quiet of his people; if we cannot heal, let usnot inflame the wounds which have been inflicted. 

"If the Begums think themselves aggrieved to such a degree as to justifythem in an appeal to a foreign jurisdiction, --to appeal to it against aman standing in the relation of son and grandson to them, --to appeal tothe justice of those who have been the abettors and instruments of theirimputed wrongs, --let us at least permit them to be the judges of theirown feelings, and prefer their complaints before we offer to redressthem: they will not need to be prompted. I hope I shall not depart fromthe simplicity of official language, in saying, that the majesty ofjustice ought to be approached with solicitation, not descend to provokeor invite it, much less to debase itself by the suggestion of wrongs andthe promise of redress, with the denunciation of punishment beforetrial, and even before accusation. "

My Lords, if, since the beginning of the world, such a paper as this wasever before written by a person standing in the relation of a servant tohis master, I shall allow that every word we have said to your Lordshipsupon this occasion to mark his guilt ought to be expunged from yourminutes and from our charges. 

Before I proceed to make any observations upon this act of openrebellion against his superiors, I must beg your Lordships to remark thecruelty of purpose, the hostile feeling, towards these injured women, which were displayed in this daring defiance. Your Lordships will findthat he never is a rebel to one party without being a tyrant to someothers; that _rebel_ and _tyrant_ are correlative terms, when applied tohim, and that they constantly go together. 

It is suggested by the Directors, that the Nabob is the persecutor, theoppressor, and that Mr. Hastings is the person who is to redress thewrong. But here they have mistaken the matter totally. For we haveproved to your Lordships that Mr. Hastings was the principal in thepersecution, and that the Nabob was only an instrument. "If I am rightlyinformed, " he says, "the Nabob and the Begums are on terms of mutualgood-will. It would ill become this government to interpose itsinfluence by any act which might tend to revive their animosities: and avery slight occasion would be sufficient to effect it. " What animositieshad they towards each other? None that we know of. Mr. Hastings gets theNabob to rob his mother; and then he supposes, contrary to truth, contrary to fact, contrary to everything your Lordships have heard, thatthe Nabob would fall into a fury, if his mother was to obtain anyredress, --and that, if the least inquiry into this business was made, itwould 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 agreen wound; don't uncover it; do nothing to irritate. It will be tolittle purpose to tell them that their conduct has in our estimation ofit been very wrong, and at the same time announce to them the orders ofour superiors, which more than indicate the reverse. " Now, my Lords, towhat does all this amount? "First, " says he, "I will not do themjustice, --I will not enter upon an inquiry into their wrongs. " Why?"Because they charge us with having inflicted them. " Then, surely, forthat reason, you ought to commence an inquiry. "No, " says he, "thatwould be telling them that our superiors suspect we are in the wrong. "But when his superiors more than indicated suspicions, was he not boundtenfold to make that inquiry, for his honor and for their satisfaction, which they direct him to make? No, he will not do it, "because, " sayshe, "the Begums would either accept the offer of an asylum in theCompany's territories, to the proclaimed scandal of the Vizier, whichwould not add to the credit of our government, or they would remain inhis dominions, but not under his authority, to add to his vexations, andthe disorders of the country, by continual intrigues and seditions. "

You see, my Lords, this man is constantly thrusting this peaceable Nabobbefore him; goading and pushing him on, as if with a bayonet behind, tothe commission of everything that is base and dishonorable. You have himhere declaring that he will not satisfy the Directors, his masters, intheir inquiries about those acts, for fear of the Nabob's takingumbrage, and getting into a flame with his mother, --and for fear themother, supported by the opinion of the Directors, should be induced toresent her wrongs. What, I say, does all this amount to? It amounts tothis:--"The Begums accuse me of doing them injustice; the Directorsindicate a suspicion that they have been injured; therefore I will notinquire into the matter. " Why? "Because it may raise disturbances. " Butwhat disturbance could it raise? The mother is disarmed, and could nothurt the Nabob. All her landed estates he knew were confiscated; he knewall her money was in his own possession; he knew she had not the means, if she had been disposed, to create intrigues and cabals;--whatdisturbance, then, could be created by his sending a letter to know whatshe had to say upon the subject of her wrongs?

"_If_" says he, "_the Begums think themselves aggrieved. _" Observe, myLords, 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 ownrepresentation of his own case, and upon nothing else. The Begums didnot dare to murmur; they did not dare to ask for redress, God knows thepoor creatures were, at or about the time, hisprisoners, --robbed, --stripped of everything, --without hope and withoutresource. But the Directors, doing their duty upon that occasion, didcondemn him upon his own false representations contained in that bundleof affidavits upon which his counsel now contend that your Lordshipsshould acquit him. --"But, " says he, "are they to _appeal to a foreignjurisdiction_?" When these women were to be robbed, we were notforeigners to them; on the contrary, we adjudged them guilty ofrebellion. We sent an English chief-justice to collect materials ofaccusation against them. We sent English officers to take their money. The whole was an English transaction. When wrong is to be done, we havethen an interest in the country to justify our acting in it; but whenthe question is of redressing wrongs, when the question is of doingjustice, when the question is of inquiry, when the question is ofhearing complaints, then it is a foreign jurisdiction. You are to sufferMr. Hastings--to make it foreign, or to make it domestic, just as itanswers his purposes. --But they are "_to appeal against a man standingin the relation of son and grandson to them, and to appeal to thejustice of those who have been the abettors and instruments of theirimputed wrongs_. " Why, my Lords, if he allows that he is the abettor of, and the instrument to which the Directors impute these wrongs, why, Iask, does he, with those charges lying upon him, object to all inquiryin the manner you have seen?

But the Company's Governor is, it seems, all at once transformed into agreat sovereign;--"_the majesty of justice ought to be approached withsolicitation_. " Here, my Lords, he forgets at once the Court ofDirectors, he forgets the laws of England, he forgets the act ofParliament, he forgets that any obedience is due to his superiors. TheBegums were to approach him by the orders of the Court of Directors; hesets at nought these orders, and asserts that he must be approached withsolicitations. 

"_Time_, " says he, "_has obliterated their sufferings. _" Oh, what a balmof oblivion time spreads over the wrongs, wounds, and afflictions ofothers, in the mind of the person who inflicts those wrongs andoppressions! The oppressor soon forgets. This robbery took place in17[81]; it was in the year 1783 when he asserted that the waters ofLethe had been poured over all their wrongs and oppressions. YourLordships will mark this insulting language, when he says that both theorder of the Directors and the application of the Begums for redressmust 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 thisman must have been, from his want of patience in his present situation, and when he dares to hold this language here. Your Lordships will reckonwith 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 theletter from the Directors, which I read just now. You will judge whetherit is an order or not. I did hope within these two days to put an end tothis business; but when your Lordships hear us charged with directfalsehood at your bar, when you hear this wicked wretch who is beforeyou--

 [_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 wehad read the order upon which our assertion was founded. This man, whomwe 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, buta direct falsehood, --and adds, that his patience is worn out with thefalsehood he hears. This is not an English court of justice, if such athing is permitted. We beg leave to retire, and take instructions fromour constituents. He ought to be sent to Bridewell for going on in thismanner. 

 [_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 thisbox, and knowing what allowance is due to a wounded conscience, broughtbefore an awful tribunal, and smarting under the impressions of its ownguilt, I would pass them over. But, my Lords, we have the honor of theCommons, we have the honor of this court to sustain. [Your Lordships, the other day, for an offence committed against a constable, who waskeeping the way under your orders, did, very justly, and to the greatsatisfaction of the public, commit the party to Bridewell, for a muchslighter insult against the honor and dignify of your court. ] And Ileave it, therefore, for the present, till your Lordships can seriouslyconsider what the mode of proceeding in this matter ought to be. --I nowproceed. 

 * * * * *

We have read to your Lordships the orders of the Court of Directors: Iagain say we consider them as orders: your Lordships are as good judgesof the propriety of the term as we are. You have heard them read; youhave also heard that the Council at Calcutta considered them as orders, for resolutions were moved upon them; and Mr. Stables, in evidencebefore you here, who was one of the Council, so considered them: and yetthis man has the frantic audacity in this place to assert that they werenot orders, and to declare that he cannot stand the repetition of suchabominable falsehoods as are perpetually urged against him. We cannotconceive that your Lordships will suffer this; and if you do, I promiseyou the Commons will not suffer the justice of the country to be trifledwith and insulted in this manner: because, if such conduct be sufferedby your Lordships, they must say that very disagreeable consequenceswill ensue, and very disagreeable inferences will be drawn by the publicconcerning it. You will forgive, and we know how to forgive, the ravingsof people smarting under a conscious sense of their guilt. But when weare 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 othernoise and brawlings of criminals who in irons may be led through thestreets, raving at the magistrate that has committed them. We considerhim as a poor, miserable man, railing at his accusers: it is natural heshould fall into all these frantic ravings, but it is not fit or naturalthat the Court should indulge him in them. Your Lordships shall now hearin what sense Mr. Wheler and Mr. Stables, two other members of theCouncil, understood this letter. 

Mr. Wheler thus writes. --"It always has been and always will be my wishto conform implicitly to the orders of the Court of Directors, and Itrust that the opinion which I shall give upon that part of the Court'sletter 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'sconsideration are entirely provisional. Nothing has passed since theconclusion of the agreement made by the Governor-General with the Vizierat Chunar which induces me to alter the opinion which I before held, aswell from the Governor-General's reports to this board as the opinionswhich I have heard of many individuals totally unconcerned in thesubject, that the Begums at Fyzabad did take a hostile part against theCompany during the disturbances in Benares; and I am impressed with aconviction that the conduct of the Begums did not proceed entirely frommotives of self-defence. But as the Court of Directors appear to be of adifferent opinion, and conceive that there ought to be stronger proofsof 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 atthe Vizier's court, and the commanding officers in the Vizier's country, ought to be required to collect and lay before the board all theinformation they can obtain with respect to the defection of the Begumsduring the troubles in Benares, and their present disposition to theCompany. "

Mr. Stables, September 9th, 1783, writes thus. --"The Court of Directors, by their letter of the 14th February, 1783, seem not to be satisfiedthat the disaffection of the Begums to this government is sufficientlyproved by the evidence before them. I therefore think that the late andpresent Resident and commanding officers in the Vizier's country at thetime should be called upon to collect what further information they canon this subject, in which the honor and dignity of this government is somaterially concerned, that such information may be immediatelytransmitted to the Court of Directors. "

When questioned upon this subject at your Lordships' bar, he gives thisevidence. --"_Q. _ What was your motive for proposing thatinvestigation?--_A. _ A letter from the Court of Directors; I conceivedit to be ordered by them. --_Q. _ Did you conceive the letter of the Courtof Directors positively to direct that inquiry?--_A. _ I did so certainlyat the time, and I beg to refer to the minutes which expressed it. "--Aquestion was put to the same witness by a noble lord. "_Q. _ The witnesshas stated, that at the time he has mentioned he conceived the letterfrom the Court of Directors to order an inquiry, and that it was uponthat opinion that he regulated his conduct, and his proposal for suchinquiry. I wish to know whether the expression, '_at the time_, ' wasmerely casual, or am I to understand from it that the witness hasaltered his opinion of the intention of this letter since thattime?--_A. _ I certainly retain that opinion, and I wished the inquiry togo on. "

My Lords, you see that his colleagues so understood it; you see that weso understood it; and still you have heard the prisoner, after chargingus with falsehood, insultingly tell us we may go on as we please, we maygo on in our own way. If your Lordships think that it was not a positiveorder, which Mr. Hastings was bound to obey, you will acquit him of thebreach of it. But it is a most singular thing, among all the astonishingcircumstances of this case, that this man, who has heard from thebeginning to the end of his trial breaches of the Company's ordersconstantly charged upon him, --(nay, I will venture to say, that there isnot a single step that we have taken in this prosecution, or inobservations upon evidence, in which we have not charged him with anavowed direct breach of the Company's order, --you have heard it tentimes this day, --in his defence before the Commons he declares he didintentionally, in naming Mr. Markham, break the Company's orders, )--itis singular, I say, that this man should now pretend to be so sore uponthis point. What is it now that makes him break through all the rules ofcommon decency and common propriety, and show all the burnings of guilt, upon being accused of the breach of one of the innumerable orders whichhe has broken, of which he has avowed the breaking, and attempted tojustify himself a thousand times in the Company's books for havingbroken?

My Lords, one of his own body, one of the Council, has sworn at your barwhat he repeatedly declared to be his sense of it. We consider it as oneof the strongest orders that can be given, because the reason of theorder is added to it: the Directors declaring, that, if it should not befound upon inquiry, (you see, my Lords, it puts the very case, )--"if youdo not find such and such things, we shall consider the English honorwounded and stained, and we direct you to make reparation. " There are, in fact, two orders contained in this letter, which we take to beequally strong and positive, --and we charge him with the breach of both:namely, the order for inquiry, and the conditional order of restoring tothe Begums their jaghires, or making satisfaction for them; and in caseof any apprehension of reluctance in the Nabob, to bring them forsecurity into the Company's territories. The two last positive ordersare preceded by the supposition of an inquiry which was to justify himeither 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 allthese orders. And now let his impatience break out again. 

Your Lordships have seen, amongst the various pretences by which thisman has endeavored to justify his various delinquencies, that of fearingto offend the Nabob by the restoration of their jaghires to the Begumsis one. Your Lordships will form your own judgment of the truth orfalsehood of this pretence, when you shall have heard the letter which Ishall 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 jaghirerestored, (after entering into some engagement that might have beenrequired of her, ) and the Nabob, in a tone equally suppliant, expressinghis consent, at least, that her request should be complied with, if thecommand of Mr. Hastings could be procured. 

 * * * * *

My Lords, in order to save your Lordships' time, and that I might notoverload this business, I did not intend to have troubled you with anyobservations upon this part of it; but the charge of falsehood which theprisoner at your bar has had the audacity to bring against us hasinduced me to lay it more particularly before, you. We have now donewith it; but before we retire, your Lordships will permit me torecapitulate briefly the substance of what has now been urged respectinghis conduct towards these miserable women. We accuse him of reiteratedbreaches of the orders of the Court of Directors, both in the letter andspirit of them, and of his contempt of the opinions which his colleaguesin office had formed of them. We charge him with the aggravation ofthese delinquencies, by the oppression and ruin which they brought uponthe family of the Nabob, by the infraction of treaties, and by thedisrepute which in his person was sustained by the government herepresented, and by the stain left upon the justice, honor, and goodfaith of the English nation. We charge him with their fartheraggravation by sundry false pretences alleged by him in justification ofthis conduct, the pretended reluctance of the Nabob, the fear ofoffending him, the suggestion of the Begums having forgotten andforgiven the wrongs they had suffered, and of the danger of revivingtheir discontent by any attempt to redress them, and by his insolentlanguage, that the majesty of justice with which he impudently investshimself was only to be approached with solicitation. We have fartherstated, that the pretence that he was only concerned in this business asan accessary is equally false; it being, on the contrary, notorious, that the Nabob was the accessary, forced into the service, and a mereinstrument in his hands, and that he and Sir Elijah Impey (whoseemployment in this business we stated as a farther aggravation) were theauthors and principal agents. And we farther contend, that each of theseaggravations and pretences is itself, in fact and in its principle, asubstantive crime. 

Your Lordships witnessed the insolence with which this man, stung to thequick by the recital of his crime, interrupted me; and you heard hisrecrimination of falsehood against us. We again avouch the truth of alland every word we have uttered, and the validity of every proof withwhich we have supported them. Let his impatience, I say, now again burstforth, --he who feels so sensibly everything that touches him, and yetseeks for an act of indemnity for his own atrocities, by endeavoring tomake you believe that the wrongs of a desolated family are within oneyear forgotten by them, and buried in oblivion. 

I trust, my Lords, that both his prosecutors and his judges will evincethat patience which the criminal wants. Justice is not to wait to haveits majesty approached with solicitation. We see that throne in whichresides invisibly, but virtually, the majesty of England; we see yourLordships representing, in succession, the juridical authority in thehighest court in this kingdom: but we do not approach you withsolicitation; we make it a petition of right; we claim it; we demand it. The right of seeking redress is not suppliant, even before the majestyof England; it comes boldly forward, and never thinks it offends itssovereign by claiming what is the right of all his people. 

We have now done with this business: a business as atrocious as any thatis known in the history of mankind; a business that has stained, throughout all Asia, the British character, and by which our fame forhonor, integrity, and public faith has been forfeited; a business whichhas introduced us throughout that country as breakers of faith, destroyers of treaties, plunderers of the weak and unprotected, and hasdishonored and will forever dishonor the British name. Your Lordshipshave had all this in evidence. You have seen in what manner the Nabob, his country, his revenues, his subjects, his mother, his family, hisnobility, and all their fortunes, real and personal, have been disposedof by the prisoner at your bar; and having seen this, you will by theimpatience of this criminal estimate the patience of the unfortunatewomen into whose injuries he refused to inquire. What he would not dothe Commons have done. They know that you have a feeling different fromthat which he manifested on this occasion; they do not approach yousuppliantly, but demand justice; they insist, that, as the Commons havedone their part, your Lordships will perform yours. 

 * * * * *

We shall next proceed to show your Lordships how he acted towardsanother set of women, the women of the late Sujah Dowlah, and for whomthe Directors had ordered a maintenance to be secured by an expresstreaty. You will see that he is cruel towards the weak sex, and to allothers in proportion as they are weak and powerless to resist him. Youwill see, I say, when he had usurped the whole government of Oude, andbrought 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 fromthis place, my observations were principally directed to the unjustconfiscation and seizure of the jaghires and treasures of the Begums, without previous accusation, or trial, or subsequent inquiry into theirconduct, in violation of a treaty made with them and guarantied by theEast India Company, --to the long imprisonment and cruel treatment oftheir ministers, and to the false pretences and abominable principles bywhich the prisoner at your bar has attempted to justify his conduct. Theseveral acts of violence and of oppression were, as we have shown yourLordships, committed with circumstances of aggravated atrocity highlydisgraceful to the British name and character, --and particularly by hisforcing the Nabob to become the means and instrument of reducing hismother and grandmother and their families to absolute want and distress. 

I have now to call your attention to his treatment of another branch ofthis miserable family, --the women and children of the late Nabob Sujahul Dowlah. These persons were dependent upon the Begums, and by theconfiscation of their property, and by the ruin of various persons whowould otherwise have contributed to their maintenance, were reduced tothe last extremity of indigence and want. Being left without the commonnecessaries of life, they were driven to the necessity of breakingthrough all those local principles of decorum which constitute thecharacter of the female sex in that part of the world; and afterfruitless supplications and shrieks of famine, they endeavored to breakthe 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 tothe extremity of disgrace and degradation, by exposing themselves topublic view with the starving children of their late sovereign, thebrothers and sisters of the reigning prince, they were, in this attempt, attacked by the sepoys armed with bludgeons, and driven back by blowsinto the palace. 

My Lords, we have first laid before you the sufferings and disgraces ofwomen of the first distinction in Asia, protected by their rank, protected by their sex, protected by their near relation to the princeof the country, protected by two guaranties of the representative of theBritish government in India. We now come to another class of women, whosuffered by the violent misappropriation of the revenues of the Nabob, by which their regular allowance was taken from them; and your Lordshipswill 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 withregard to the consequences of them, and form but a small part in themass of oppression and tyranny which we have brought before you. 

My Lords, the unjust seizure of the jaghires and treasures of theBegums, out of which those women were maintained, reduced them to astate of indigence, and exposed them not only to the sufferings whichbelong to the physical nature of man, but also to the indignities whichparticularly affected their sex and condition. But before I proceed, Iwill beg leave to restate to your Lordships and recall to your memorywho these women were. 

The Nabob Sujah Dowlah had but one legitimate wife. Though the Mahometanlaw admits of this number's being extended in certain cases even tofour, yet it is for the most part held disreputable, especially when aperson is married to a woman of the first distinction, to have more thanone legitimate wife. Upon looking into the Hedaya, your Lordships willsee with what extreme rigor fornication is forbidden; but we know thatpersons 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 asubordinate description, and indulge themselves in this license to anunlimited degree. You will find in Chardin's Travels, where he treats ofthe subject of marriage, that such is the custom of all the princes ofthe East. The wives of this subordinate class, though they are inreality no better than concubines, and are subject to the power andcaprices of their lords, are yet allowed, in the eye of the severestmoralists, to have some excuse for their frailty and their weakness; andthey accordingly always do find a degree of favor in this world, andbecome the object of particular protection. 

We know that Sujah ul Dowlah was a man unquestionably in his mannersvery licentious with regard to women, that he had a great number ofthese women in his family, and that his women and the women attendantupon 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 aremore females born in the East than in the West. But he says this upon nogood ground. We know by better and more regular information concerningthis matter, that the birth of males and females in that country is inthe same proportion as it is here; and therefore, if you suppose that hehad twenty sons, you may suppose he had about nineteen daughters. By thecustoms of that country, all these sons and daughters were considered aspersons of eminent distinction, though inferior to the legitimatechildren, --assuming the rank of their father, without considering therank which their mother held. All these wives with their children, andall their female servants and attendants, amounting in the whole toabout eight hundred persons, were shut up in what they call the _KhordMohul_, or Lesser Palace. This place is described by one of thewitnesses to be about as large as St. James's Square. Your Lordshipshave been told, that, in other circumstances as well as this, thesewomen were considered as objects of a great degree of respect, and ofthe greatest degree of protection. I refer your Lordships to the treatyby which their maintenance was guarantied by the English government. 

In order to let your Lordships see that I state nothing to you but whatis supported not only by general history, which is enough to support anaccount of general manners, but by the particular and peculiar opinionsof a person best informed of the nature of the case, I will refer you tothe Nabob himself: for, undoubtedly, the Nabob of Oude, the Vizier ofthe Empire, the Subahdar of the country, was most likely to be the bestjudge of what respect was due to the women of his father's family. Iwill therefore read to your Lordships, from his own letters, what theNabob'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 Khân, 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 thesewomen. He regarded the wives of his father as his honorary mothers; heconsiders their children as his brethren; he thinks it would be highlydishonorable to his government, if one of them was taken out of thesanctuary in which they are placed, and in which, he says, the great ofthe country are obliged to maintain their dependants. This is theaccount given by the person best acquainted with the usages of thecountry, best acquainted with his own duties, best acquainted with hisown wishes. 

Now, my Lords, you will see in what light another person, the agent of atrading company, who designates himself under the name of Majesty, andassumes other great distinctions, presumes also to consider thesepersons, --and in what contempt he is pleased to hold what is respectedand what is held sacred in that country. What I am now going to quote isfrom the prisoner's second defence. For I must remind your Lordshipsthat 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 yourLordships' bar. The second defence, though delivered without name, tothe members in the lobby of the House of Commons, has been proved atyour Lordships' bar to be written by himself. This lobby, thisout-of-door defence, militates in some respects, as your Lordships willfind, with the in-door defence; but it probably contains the realsentiments of Mr. Hastings himself, delivered with a little morefreeness when he gets into the open air, --like the man who was so vainof some silly plot he had hatched, that he told it to thehackney-coachman, and every man he met in the streets. 

He says, --"Begums are the ladies of an Eastern prince; but these womenare also styled the ladies of the late Vizier, and their sufferings arepainted in such strong colors that the unsuspecting reader is led to mixthe subjects together, and to suppose that these latter, too, wereprincesses of Oude, that all their sufferings proceeded from some act ofmine, or had the sanction of my authority or permission. The fact is, that the persons of the Khord Mohul (or Little Seraglio) were youngcreatures picked up wherever youth and beauty could be found, and mostlypurchased from amongst the most necessitous and meanest ranks of thepeople, for the Nabob's pleasures. " In the in-door defence, he says, "The said women, who were mostly persons of low condition, and the saidchildren, if any such there were, lived in the Khord Mohul, on anestablishment entirely distinct from the said Begums'. "

My Lords, you have seen what was the opinion of the Nabob, who ought toknow the nature and circumstances of his father's palace, respectingthese women; you hear what Mr. Hastings's opinion is: and now thequestion is, whether your Lordships will consider these women in thesame light in which the person does who is most nearly connected withthem and most likely to know them, or in the way in which Mr. Hastingshas thought proper, within doors and without doors, to describe them. Your Lordships will be pleased to observe that he has brought no proofwhatever of facts which are so boldly asserted by him in defiance ofproof to the contrary, totally at variance with the letter of the son ofthe man to whom these women belonged. Your Lordships, I say, will remarkthat he has produced not one word of evidence, either within the Houseof Commons or the House of Peers, or in the lobby, or anywhere else, toverify any one word he has said. He slanders these women in order tolessen that compassion which your Lordships might have for thesufferings he inflicted upon them. But admitting that some of thesewomen were of a meaner condition, and that they derived nothing fromtheir connection with the dignity of the person by whom they hadchildren, (and we know that in the whole they amounted to aboutfourscore 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 andaffluence to misery and distress, they naturally excite in the mind agreater degree of compassion by comparing the circumstances in whichthey once stood with those into which they are fallen: for famine, degradation, and oppression were famine, degradation, and oppression tothose persons, even though they were as mean as Mr. Hastings chooses torepresent them. But I hope, as you will sympathize with the great onaccount of their condition, that you will sympathize with all mankind onthe 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 hisoffence against them. That is the light in which the House of Commonsconsidered it; for they had heard both his in-door and out-door defence, and they still persevered in making the charge, and do persevere inmaking it still. 

We have first stated what these women were, --in what light they stoodwith the Nabob, --in what light they stood with the country at large. Ihave now to state in what light they stood with the British government, previous to this invasion of their rights; and we will prove they werethe 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 Khân, 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 Khân and Mahmud Eltifant Khân, &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 ofthe 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. Youwill first perceive, that the very treaty in which Mr. Hastings, by hisrepresentative, Mr. Middleton, was a party concerned, supposes that theNabob Sujah ul Dowlah had other children besides the reigning prince byhis sole legitimate wife; and yet Mr. Hastings, in his defence, hasthought proper, with a full knowledge of that circumstance, to doubtwhether there were any other children. You next see that these womenhave Mr. Middleton's (that is, Mr. Hastings's) guaranty for theallowances which are made and settled upon them, and for the maintenanceof their attendants, for the security and enjoyment of their ownpossessions, for their having a law officer of high rank, a moulavy, oftheir own. In short, there is a regular establishment formed for allthese 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 economyof their establishment is delivered entirely to the Begum, thegrandmother, and the Begum, the mother, of the Nabob. 

My Lords, you see that all these arrangements have the solemn guarantyof the Company, and that these women form a very considerable part ofthat guaranty; and therefore your Lordships will not treat theirsufferings, inflicted in violation of the Company's own settlement andguaranty, as a matter of no consideration for you. 

But to proceed. --We have proved to your Lordships that the Nabob wasreduced to a state of the greatest possible misery and distress; thathis whole revenue was sequestered into the hands of Mr. Hastings'sagents; that by the treaty of Chunar he was to be relieved from theexpense of a body of troops with which he had been burdened without hisown voluntary consent, --nay, more, the temporary brigade, which Mr. Hastings proposed to take off, but kept on, which he considers not onlyas a great distress to his finances, but a dreadful scourge and calamityto his country, --there was a whole pension-list upon it, with suchenormous pensions as 18, 000_l. _ a year to Sir Eyre Coote, and otherpensions, that Mr. Hastings proposed to take off, but did not; that, inproportion as the Nabob's distress increased, Mr. Hastings's demandsincreased too; he was not satisfied, with taking from him for theCompany, but he took from him for himself; he demanded six hundredthousand 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 ofthe funds of charity, by which the protectors of the family, male andfemale, might have relieved them, but which the cruel rapacity of Mr. Hastings had either entirely taken away or greatly diminished, werereduced to the last extremity of distress. 

After the length of time which has elapsed since we first brought thesematters 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, inorder that your Lordships may again fully and distinctly comprehend thenature and extent of the oppression, cruelty, and injustice committed byMr. Hastings, and by which you may estimate the punishment you willinflict 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 Khân, 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 Khân 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 Khân, 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 Khân, under whose charge that zenanah is. "

These, my Lords, are the state of the distresses in the year 1782, andyour Lordships will see that they continued almost, with only occasionalreliefs, during the period of that whole year. Now we enter into theyear 1783, to show you that it continued during the whole time; and thenI shall make a very few remarks upon it. 

I will now read to your Lordships a part of Mr. Holt's evidence, bywhich it is proved that Mr. Hastings was duly advertised of all thesemiserable 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 Khân, 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 Khân 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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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 KhordMohul, your Lordships have been told that these women must have perishedthrough famine, if their gaolers, Captain Jaques and Major Gilpin, hadnot raised money upon their own credit, and supplied them with anoccasional relief. And therefore, when they talk of his peculation, ofhis taking but a bribe here and a bribe there, see the consequences ofhis system of peculation, see the consequences of a usurpation whichextinguishes the natural authority of the country, see the consequencesof a clandestine correspondence that does not let the injuries of thecountry come regularly before the authorities in Oude to relieve it, consider the whole mass of crimes, and then consider the sufferings thathave arisen in consequence of it. 

My Lords, it was not corporal pain alone that these miserable womensuffered. The unsatisfied cravings of hunger and the blows of thesepoys' bludgeons could touch only the physical part of their nature. But, my Lords, men are made of two parts, --the physical part, and themoral. The former he has in common with the brute creation. Like theirs, our corporeal pains are very limited and temporary. But the sufferingswhich touch our moral nature have a wider range, and are infinitely moreacute, driving the sufferer sometimes to the extremities of despair anddistraction. Man, in his moral nature, becomes, in his progress throughlife, a creature of prejudice, a creature of opinions, a creature ofhabits, and of sentiments growing out of them. These form our secondnature, as inhabitants of the country and members of the society inwhich Providence has placed us. This sensibility of our moral nature isfar 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 thesame time the least protected from the insults and outrages to whichthis sensibility exposes them. This is a new source of feelings, thatoften make corporal distress doubly felt; and it has a whole class ofdistresses of its own. These are the things that have gone to the heartof the Commons. 

We have stated, first, the sufferings of the Begum, and, secondly, thesufferings of the two thousand women (I believe they are not fewer innumber) that belong to them, and are dependent upon them, and dependentupon their well-being. We have stated to you that the Court of Directorswere shocked and astonished, when they received the account of thefirst, before they had heard the second. We have proved they desired himto redress the former, if, upon inquiry, he found that his originalsuspicions concerning their conduct were ill-founded. He has declaredhere that he did not consider these as orders. Whether they were ordersor not, could anything have been more pressing upon all the duties andall 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 haveentitled them to redress? Not one trace of inquiry or redress do wefind, 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 effectuallyinterpose, that they should no longer depend for the safety of theirhonor on the bludgeons of the sepoys, by which alone it seems they weredefended from the profane view of the vulgar, and which we must state asa matter of great aggravation in this case. 

The counsel on the other side say that all this intelligence comes in ananonymous paper without date, transmitted from a newspaper-writer atFyzabad. This is the contempt with which they treat this serious paper, sent to Mr. Hastings himself by official authority, --by Hoolas Roy, whowas the news-writer at Fyzabad, --the person appointed to conveyauthentic intelligence concerning the state of it to the Resident atLucknow. The Resident received it as such; he transmitted it to Mr. Hastings; and it was not till this hour, till the counsel wereinstructed (God forgive them for obeying such instructions!) to treatthese things with ridicule, that we have heard this Hoolas Roy called acommon news-writer of anonymous information, and the like. If theinformation had come in any way the least authentic, instead of comingin 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 ofregard to his own honor and his employers', to see whether it was trueor false; if false, to refute it; if true, to afford redress: he hasdone neither. Therefore we charge him with being the cause; we chargeupon him the consequences, with all the aggravations attending them; andwe call both upon justice and humanity for redress, as far as it can beafforded to these people, and for the severest punishments which yourLordships can inflict upon the author of these evils. If, instead of themass of crimes that we have brought before you, this singly had beencharged upon the prisoner, I will say that it is a greater crime thanany man has ever been impeached for before the House of Lords, from thefirst records of Parliament to this hour. 

I need not remind your Lordships of one particular circumstance in thiscruel outrage. No excuse or pretence whatever is brought forward in itsjustification. With respect to the Begums, they have been charged withrebellion; but who has accused the miserable inhabitants of the KhordMohul of rebellion, or rebellious designs? What hearsay is there, even, against them of it? No: even the persons permitted by Mr. Hastings torob and destroy the country, and who are stated by him to have been soemployed, --not one of that legion of locusts which he had sent into thecountry to eat up and devour the bread of its inhabitants, and who hadbeen the cause both of the famine itself and of the inability of theBegums to struggle with it, --none of these people, I say, ventured evena hearsay about these women. 

Were the sufferers few? There were eight hundred of them, besideschildren. Were they persons of any rank and consequence? We are toldthat they were persons of considerable rank and distinction, connectedwith and living under the protection of women of the first rank in Asia. Were they persons not deserving pity? We know that they were innocentwomen and children, not accused, and unsuspected, of any crime. He hastaken into his head to speak contemptuously of these women of the KhordMohul: but your Lordships will consider both descriptions generally withsome respect; and where they are not objects of the highest respect, they will be objects of your compassion. Your Lordships, by youravenging justice, will rescue the name of the British government fromthe foulest disgrace which this man has brought upon it. 

An account of these transactions, as we have proved by Mr. Holt'sevidence, was regularly transmitted and made known to him. But why do Isay made known to him? Do not your Lordships know that Oude washis, --that he treated it like his private estate, --that he managed it inall its concerns as if it were his private demesne, --that the Nabobdared not do a single act without him, --that he had a Resident there, nominated by himself, and forced upon the Nabob, in defiance of theCompany's orders? Yet, notwithstanding all this, we do not find a traceof anything done to relieve the aggravated distresses of theseunfortunate people. 

These are some of the consequences of that abominable system which, indefiance of the laws of his country, Mr. Hastings established in Oude. He knew everything there; he had spies upon his regular agents, andspies again upon them. We can prove, (indeed, he has himself proved, )that, besides his correspondence with his avowed agents, Major Palmerand Major Davy, he had secret correspondence with a whole host of agentsand pensioners, who did and must have informed him of every circumstanceof these affairs. But if he had never been informed of it at all, theCommons contend, and very well and justly contend, that he who usurpsthe government of a country, who extinguishes the authority of itsnative sovereign, and places in it instruments of his own, and that indefiance of those whose orders he was bound to obey, is responsible foreverything that was done in the country. We do charge him with theseacts of delinquencies and omissions, we declare him responsible forthem; and we call for your Lordships' judgment upon these outragesagainst 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 breaststhe least feeling for our common humanity, and especially for thesufferings and distresses of that part of human nature which is made byits peculiar constitution more quick and sensible, --if, I say, there isa 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 GreatBritain in feeling the utmost degree of indignation against the man whowas the guilty cause of this accumulated distress. You see women, whomwe have proved to be of respectable rank and condition, exposed to whatis held to be the last of indignities in that country, --the view of abase, insulting, ridiculing, or perhaps vainly pitying populace. Youhave before you the first women in Asia, who consider their honor asjoined with that of these people, weeping and bewailing the calamitiesof their house. You have seen that in this misery and distress the sonsof the Nabob were involved, and that two of them were wounded in anattempt to escape: and yet this man has had the impudence to declare hisdoubts of the Nabob's having had any children in the place, though theaccount 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 theCompany; but it was doubly guarantied under the great seal of humanity. The conscience of every man, and more especially of the great andpowerful, is the keeper of that great seal, and knows what is due to itsauthority. For the violation of both these guaranties, without even thevain and frivolous pretence of a rebellion, and for all itsconsequences, Mr. Hastings is answerable; and he will not escape yourjustice by those miserable excuses which he has produced to the Court ofDirectors, and which he has produced here in his justification. MyLords, that justification we leave with your Lordships. 

 * * * * *

We now proceed to another part of our charge, which Mr. Hastings has notthought proper to deny, but upon which we shall beg leave to make a fewobservations. You will first hear read to you, from the 17th article ofour charge, the subject-matter to which we now wish to call yourattention. 

 "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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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 byMr. Purling, page 485 printed Minutes. Amongst the names of jaghiredars, the times when granted, and the amount of the jaghires, there occursthat of the Nabob Bahadur, with a grant of a jaghire of the amount of20, 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 ofit, the state and condition of the country of Oude when Mr. Hastingsfirst came to it, --his subsequent and immediate usurpation of all thepowers of government, and the use he made of them, --the tyranny heexercised over the Nabob himself, --the tyranny he exercised upon hismother and grandmother, and all the other females of his family, andtheir dependants of every description, to the number of about eighthundred persons, --the tyranny exercised (though we are not at libertyto press it now) upon his brethren. We have shown you how he confiscatedthe property of all the jaghiredars, the nobility of the country. Wehave proved to your Lordships that he was well acquainted with all themisery and distress occasioned by these proceedings, and that heafforded the sufferers no relief. We now proceed to review the effect ofthis general mass of usurpation, tyranny, and oppression upon therevenues 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, --whowere the executive ministers of the government, --what their conduct was, and by whom they were recommended and supported. For the evidence ofthese facts we refer your Lordships to your printed Minutes: there, myLords, they stand recorded: they never can be expunged out of yourrecord, and the memory of mankind, whether we be permitted to press themat this time upon your Lordships or not. Your Lordships will there findin what manner the government was carried on in Oude in 1775, before theperiod of Mr. Hastings's usurpation. Mr. Hastings, you will find, hashimself there stated that the minister was recommended by the Begums;and you will remark this, because Mr. Hastings afterwards makes herinterference in the government of her son a part of his crimination ofthe Begum. 

 * * * * *

The Resident at the court of Oude thus writes on the 2d of March, 1775. 

 "Notwithstanding the confidence the Nabob reposes in Murtezza Khân, 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 Khân 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 andhad served the country, and who were strongly inclined to support theEnglish interest there. Your Lordships will remark the effects of theBegum's influence upon the state of things in 1775, that the Nabob hadbeen advised by his mother to employ the confidential servants of hisfather, --persons conversant in the affairs of the country, personsinterested in it, and persons who were well disposed to support theEnglish 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 Khân'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 Khân'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 thefirst period of our connection with it. Your Lordships have seen andunderstand that part of the middle period, with which we do not mean totrouble you again. You will now be pleased to attend to a letter fromFyzoola Khân 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, --thatyou have seen the first state of this country, and that the period whenit had fallen into the state last described was about two years afterMr. Hastings had obtained the majority in the Council and began togovern this country by his lieutenants. We know that the country was putby him under military collectors: you see the consequences. The personwho makes this representation to Mr. Hastings of the state of thecountry, of its distress and calamity, and of the desolation of athousand of the villages formerly flourishing in it, is no less a personthan a prince of a neighboring country, a person of whom you have oftenheard, and to whom the cause of humanity is much indebted, namely, Fyzoola Khân, --a prince whose country the English Resident, travellingthrough, declares to be cultivated like a garden. That this was thestate of the Rohilla country is owing to its having very fortunatelybeen one of those that escaped the dominion of Mr. Hastings. 

We will now read to your Lordships a letter from Sir Eyre Coote to theboard 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 thishorrible usurpation, which Sir Eyre Coote mentions under the soft nameof our _influence_. But there could be but one voice upon the subject, and that your Lordships shall now hear from Mr. Hastings himself. Werefer your Lordships to the Minute of the Governor-General'sConsultation, Fort William, 21st May, 1781: he is here giving hisreasons 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, withregard to the state of the country, up to the period of Mr. Hastings'sjourney into the country. You see that Mr. Hastings himself admits it tohave been formerly in a most flourishing, orderly, and prosperous state. Its condition in 1781 he describes to you in words than which no enemyof his can use stronger, in order to paint the state in which it thenwas. In this state he found it, when he went up in the year 1781; and heleft it, with regard to any substantial regulation that was executed orcould be executed, in the state in which he found it, --after havingincreased 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 thecountry 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 Khân 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 Khân 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 Khân's administration is well known to have been extremely violent. "

We will next read to your Lordships an extract from Captain Edwards'sevidence. 

 "_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. YourLordships may trace the whole progress of these evils, step by step, from the death of Sujah ul Dowlah to the time of Mr. Hastings'sobtaining a majority in the Council, after which he possessed the soleand uncontrolled management of the country; you have seen also theconsequences that immediately followed till the year 1784, when he wentup a second time into the country. 

I do not know, my Lords, that it is necessary to make any observationupon this state of things. You see that the native authority was, as wehave proved, utterly extinguished by Mr. Hastings, and that there wasno superintendent power but his. You have heard of the oppressions ofthe farmers of the revenues; and we have shown you that these farmersgenerally were English officers. We have shown you in what mannerColonel Hannay, one of these farmers sent by Mr. Hastings, acted, andparticularly the accumulation of hostages which were made by him. Wehave shown you, that by their arbitrary and tyrannical proceedings allregular government was subverted, and that the country experienced thelast and most dreadful effects of anarchy. We have shown you that noother security was left to any human being, but to intrench themselvesin such forts as they could make, and that these forts, in one districtonly of the country, had increased in number to the amount of sevenhundred. Your Lordships also know, that, when the prisons and mud fortsin which Colonel Hannay kept his hostages confined were full, he keptthem in uncovered cages in the open air. You know that all these farmersof revenue were either English and military men, or natives under anabject submission to them; you know that they had the whole country inassignments, 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 havebeen alone the cause of these evils, and that our influence over him, ifnot actually the cause of the utter ruin, desolation, and anarchy ofthat country, might have been successfully exerted in preventing. 

When your Lordships shall proceed to judgment upon these accumulatedwrongs, arising out of the usurped power of the prisoner at your bar, and redressed by him in no one instance whatever, let not the usurpationitself of the Nabob's power be considered as a trivial matter. When anyprince at the head of a great country is entirely stripped of everythingin his government, civil or military, by which his rank may bedistinguished or his virtues exercised, he is in danger of becoming amere animal, and of abandoning himself wholly to sensual gratifications. Feeling no personal interest in the institutions or in the generalwelfare of the country, he suffers the former (and many wise andlaudable institutions existed in the provinces of the Nabob, for theirgood order and government) to fall into disuse, and he leaves thecountry itself to persons in inferior situations, to be wasted anddestroyed by them. You find that in Oude, the very appearance of justicehad been banished out of it, and that every aumil exercised an arbitrarypower over the lives and fortunes of the people. My Lords, we have theproofs of all these facts in our hands; they are in your Lordships'minutes; and though we can state nothing stronger than is stated in thepapers themselves, yet we do not so far forget our duty as not to pointout to your Lordships such observations as arise out of them. 

To close the whole, your Lordships shall how hear read an extract from amost curious and extraordinary letter, sent by him to the Court ofDirectors, 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 hisbitterest accuser would do: he goes through, head by head, every one ofthe measures which he had himself pursued in the destruction of thecountry; and he foretells, that, if any one of those measures shouldagain be pursued, or even if good cause should be given to suspect theywould be renewed, the country must fall into a state of inevitabledestruction. This supersedes all observation. This paper is arecapitulated, minute condemnation of every step which he took in thatcountry, and which steps, are every one of them upon your Lordships'minutes. 

But, my Lords, we know very well the design of these pretendedapprehensions, and why he wished to have that country left in the statehe speaks of. He had left a secret agent of his own to control thatostensible government, and to enable him, sitting in the place where henow sits, to continue to govern those provinces in the way in which henow 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 mywords, and show strong grounds and reasons to indicate that he governsOude now as much as he ever did. 

You see, my Lords, that the reform which he pretended to make in 1781produced the calamities which he states to have existed in 1784. Weshall now show that the reform which he pretended to make in 1784brought on the calamities which Lord Cornwallis states in his evidenceto have existed in 1787. 

We will now read two letters from Lord Cornwallis: the first is datedthe 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 theygo, they prove the effects of Mr. Hastings's reformation, from which hewas pleased to promise the Company such great things. But when yourLordships know that he had left his dependant and minister, Hyder BegKhân, there, whose character, as your Lordships will find by a referenceto your minutes he has represented as black as hell, to be the realgovernor there, and to carry on private correspondence with him here, and that he had left Major Palmer, his private agent, for a considerabletime in that country to carry on his affairs, your Lordships will easilysee how it has come to pass that the Vizier, such a man as you haveheard him described to be, was not alone able to restore prosperity tohis country. 

My Lords, you have now seen what was the situation of the country inSujah Dowlah's time, prior to Mr. Hastings's interference with thegovernment of it, what it was during his government, and what situationit was in when Lord Cornwallis left it. Nothing now remains but to callyour Lordships' attention to perhaps the most extraordinary part ofthese transactions. But before we proceed, we will beg leave to go backand 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 theabject 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 Lordshipswill be pleased to recollect the Nabob's letter which we read to yourLordships yesterday, the humble and abject style of which you will neverforget. Oh, consider, my Lords, this instance of the fate of humangreatness! You must remember that there is not a trace anywhere, in anyof the various trunks of Mr. Hastings, that he ever condescended so muchas to give an answer to the suppliant letters of that unhappy man. Therewas no mode of indignity with which he did not treat his family; therewas no mode of indignity with which he did not treat his person; therewas no mode of indignity with which he did not treat his minister, HyderBeg Khân, --this man whom he represents to be the most infamous andscandalous of mankind, and of whom he, nevertheless, at the same timedeclares, that his only support with the Vizier was the support whichhe, Warren Hastings, as representative of the English government, gavehim. 

We will now read a paper which perhaps ought not to have been receivedin evidence, but which we were willing to enter in your minutes asevidence, in order that everything should come before you. YourLordships have heard the Nabob speak of his misery, distress, andoppression; but here he makes a complete defeasance, as it were, of thewhole charge, a direct disavowal of every one of the complaints, andparticularly that of having never received an answer to thesecomplaints. Oh, think, I say, my Lords, of the degraded, miserable, andunhappy state to which human nature may be reduced, when you hear thisunhappy man declare that all the charges which we have made upon thissubject relative to him, and which are all either admitted by him ortaken from his own representation, are now stated by him in a paperbefore you to be all false, and that there is not a word of therepresentation which he had made of Mr. Hastings that has the leasttruth in it! Your Lordships will find this in that collection of variouspapers which ought to be preserved and put into every museum in Europe, as one of the most extraordinary productions that was ever exhibited tothe 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 isfalse; we choose to bring our shame before the world, and to admit thatthis man, on whose behalf and on the behalf of whose country we haveaccused Mr. Hastings, has declared that this accusation (namely, thisimpeachment) is destitute of uprightness and without truth. But, myLords, 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 toall the representations of Mr. Hastings himself. Your Lordships willhence see what credit is to be given to these papers. 

Your Lordships shall now hear what Hyder Beg Khân says: that Hyder BegKhân who stands recorded in your minutes as the worst of mankind; who isrepresented as writing letters without the Nabob's consent, and indefiance of him; the man of whom Mr. Hastings says, that the Nabob isnothing but a tool in his hands, and that the Nabob is and ever must bea tool of somebody or other. Now, as we have heard the tool speak, letus hear how the workman employed to work with this tool speaks. 

 _Extract from Hyder Beg Khân'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 Khân gives of Mr. Hastings, --of the man who he knew had loaded him, as he had done, withevery kind of indignity, reproach, and outrage with which a man can beloaded. Your Lordships will see that this testimony repeats, almost wordfor word, the testimony of the Vizier Nabob, --which shows who the realwriter is. 

My Lords, it is said, that there is no word in the Persian language toexpress gratitude. With these signal instances of gratitude before us, Ithink we may venture to put one into their dictionary. Mr. Hastings hassaid he has had the pleasure to find from the people of India thatgratitude which he has not met with from his own countrymen, the Houseof Commons. Certainly, if he has done us services, we have beenungrateful indeed; if he has committed enormous crimes, we are just. Ofthe miserable, dependent situation to which these people are reduced, that they are not ashamed to come forward and deny everything they havegiven under their own hand, --all these things show the portentous natureof this government, they show the portentous nature of that phalanx withwhich the House of Commons is at present at war, the power of thatcaptain-general of every species of Indian iniquity, which, under him, is embodied, arrayed, and paid, from Leadenhall Street to thefurthermost part of India. 

We have but one observation more to offer upon this collection of_razinamas_, upon these miserable testimonials given by these wretchedpeople in contradiction to all their own previousrepresentations, --directly in contradiction to those of Mr. Hastingshimself, --directly in contradiction to those of LordCornwallis, --directly in contradiction to truth itself. It is this. Hereis Mr. Hastings with his agents canvassing the country, with all thatminuteness with which a county is canvassed at an election; and yet inthis whole book of razinamas not one fact adduced by us is attempted tobe disproved, not one fact upon which Mr. Hastings's defence can befounded is attempted to be proved. There is nothing but bare vilepanegyrics, directly belied by the state of facts, directly belied bythe persons themselves, directly belied by Mr. Hastings at your bar, andby all the whole course of the correspondence of the country. 

We here leave to your Lordships' judgment the consideration of theelevated rank of the persons aggrieved and degraded to the lowest stateof dependence and actual distress, --the consideration of the conditionof the country gentlemen, who were obliged to hide their heads, whereverthey could, from the plunderers and robbers established under hisauthority in every part of the country, and that of the miserable commonpeople, who have been obliged to sell their children through want offood to feed them, --the consideration, I say, of the manner in whichthis country, in the highest, in the middle, and in the lowest classesof its inhabitants, nay, in physical works of God, was desolated anddestroyed by this man. 

Having now done with the province of Oude, we will proceed to theprovince of Bengal, and consider what was the kind of government whichhe exercised there, and in what manner it affected the people that weresubjected 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 ofpeople, forming three distinct social systems. The first is theMahometans, which, about seven hundred years ago, obtained a footing inthat country, and ever since has in a great degree retained itsauthority there. For the Mahometans had settled there long before thefoundation of the Bengal empire, which was overturned by Tamerlane: sothat this people, who are represented sometimes loosely as strangers, are people of ancient and considerable settlement in that country; andthough, like Mahometan settlers in many other countries, they havefallen into decay, yet, being continually recruited from various partsof Tartary under the Mogul empire, and from various parts of Persia, they continue to be the leading and most powerful people throughout thepeninsula; and so we found them there. These people, for the most part, follow no trades or occupation, their religion and laws forbidding themin the strictest manner to take usury or profit arising from money thatis in any way lent; they have, therefore, no other means for theirsupport but what arises from their adherence to and connection with theMogul government and its viceroys. They enjoy under them variousoffices, 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 familiesin the country, are dependent upon and cling to the subahdars orviceroys of the several provinces. They, therefore, who oppress, plunder, and destroy the subahdars, oppress, rob, and destroy an immensemass of people. It is true that a supervening government, establishedupon another, always reduces a certain portion of the dependants uponthe latter to want. You must distress, by the very nature of thecircumstances of the case, a great number of people; but then it is yourbusiness, when, by the superiority which you have acquired, however youmay have acquired it, (for I am not now considering whether you haveacquired it by fraud or force, or whether by a mixture of both, ) when, Isay, you have acquired it, it is your business not to oppress thosepeople with new and additional difficulties, but rather to console themin the state to which they are reduced, and to give them all theassistance and protection in your power. 

The next system is composed of the descendants of the people who werefound in the country by the Mahometan invaders. The system beforementioned comprehends the official interest, the judicial interest, thecourt interest, and the military interest. This latter body includesalmost the whole landed interest, commercial interest, and moneyedinterest of the country. For the Hindoos not being forbidden by theirlaws or religious tenets, as laid down in the Shaster, many of thembecame the principal money-lenders and bankers; and thus the Hindoosform the greatest part both of the landed and moneyed interest in thatcountry. 

The third and last system is formed of the English interest; which inreality, whether it appears directly or indirectly, is the governinginterest of the whole country, --of its civil and military interest, ofits landed, moneyed, and revenue interest; and what to us is thegreatest concern of all, it is this system which is responsible for thegovernment of that country to the government of Great Britain. It isdivided into two parts: one emanating from the Company, and afterwardsregulated by act of Parliament; the other a judicial body, sent out byand acting under the authority of the crown itself. The personscomposing that interest are those whom we usually call the servants ofthe Company. They enter into that service, as your Lordships know, at anearly period of life, and they are promoted accordingly as their meritor their interest may provide for them. This body of men, with respectto its number, is so small as scarcely to deserve mentioning; but, fromcertain circumstances, the government of the whole country is falleninto their hands. Amongst these circumstances, the most important andessential are their having the public revenues and the public purseentirely in their own hands, and their having an army maintained by thatpurse, and disciplined in the European manner. 

Such was the state of that country when Mr. Hastings was appointedGovernor in 1772. Your Lordships are now to decide upon the manner inwhich he has comported himself with regard to all these three interests:first, whether he has made the ancient Mahometan families as easy as hecould; secondly, whether he has made the Hindoo inhabitants, thezemindars and their tenants, as secure in their property and as easy intheir tenure as he could; and lastly, whether he has made the Englishinterest a blessing to the country, and, whilst it provided moderate, safe, and proper emoluments to the persons that were concerned in it, itkept them from oppression and rapine, and a general waste and ravage ofthe country: whether, in short, he made all these three interests pursuethat 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 provedto you that his first acts of oppression were directed against theMahometan government, --that government which had been before, not onlyin name, but in effect, to the very time of his appointment, the realgovernment of the country. After the Company had acquired its right overit, some shadow still remained of the ancient government. An allowancewas settled for the Nabob of Bengal, to support the dignity of hiscourt, which amounted to between four and five hundred thousand pounds ayear. In this was comprehended the support of the whole mass ofnobility, --the soldiers, serving or retired, --all the officers of thecourt, and all the women that were dependent upon them, --the whole ofthe criminal jurisdiction of the country, and a very considerable partof the civil law and the civil government. These establishments formedthe constitutional basis of their political government. 

The Company never had (and it is a thing that we can never too oftenrepeat to your Lordships)--the Company never had of right despotic powerin that country, to overturn any of these establishments. The Mogul, whogave 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 didnot by act of Parliament, and the Company did not and could not by theirdelegation, give him such a power; the act by which he was appointedGovernor did not give him such a power. If he exercised it, he usurpedit; and therefore, every step we take in the examination of his conductin Bengal, as in every step we take upon the same subject everywhereelse, we look for the justification of his conduct to laws, --the Law ofNations, the laws of this country, and the laws of the country he wassent to govern. 

The government of that country, by the ancient constitution of the Mogulempire, besides the numberless individual checks and counter-checks inthe inferior officers [offices?], is divided into the viceroyal part andthe subahdarry part. The viceroyal part takes in all criminal justiceand political government. Mr. Hastings found the country under aviceroy, governing according to law, acting by proper judges andmagistrates under him: he himself not being the judicial, but executivepower of the country, --that which sets the other in action, and does notsupersede it or supply its place. The other, the subahdarry power, whichwas by the grant of the dewanny conferred upon the Company, had underits care the revenues, as much of the civil government as is concernedwith the revenues, and many other matters growing out of it. These twooffices are coördinate and dependent on each other. The Company, aftercontracting to maintain the army out of it, got the whole revenue intotheir power. The army being thus within their power, the subahdar bydegrees vanished into an empty name. 

When we thus undertook the government of the country, conscious that wehad undertaken a task which by any personal exertion of our own we wereunable to perform in any proper or rational way, the Company appointed anative of the country, Mahomed Reza Khân, who stands upon the records ofthe Company, I venture to say, with such a character as no man perhapsever did stand, to execute the duties of both offices. Upon theexpulsion of Cossim Ali Khân, the Nabob of Bengal, all his children wereleft in a young, feeble, and unprotected state; and in that state ofthings, Lord Clive, Mr. Sumner, who sits near Mr. Hastings, and the restof the Council, wisely appointed Mahomed Reza Khân to fulfil the twooffices of deputy-viceroy and deputy-dewan, for which he had immenseallowances, and great jaghires and revenues, I allow. He was a man ofthat dignity, rank, and consideration, added to his knowledge of law andexperience in business, that Lord Clive and Mr. Sumner, who examinedstrictly his conduct at that time, did not think that 112, 000_l. _ ayear, the amount of the emoluments which had been allowed him, was agreat deal too much; but at his own desire, and in order that theseemoluments might be brought to stated and fixed sums, they reduced it to90, 000_l. _, --an allowance which they thought was not more thansufficient to preserve the state of so great a magistrate, and a man ofsuch rank, exercising such great employments. The whole revenue of theCompany depended upon his talents and fidelity; and you will find, that, on the day in which he surrendered the revenues into our hands, thedewanny, under his management, was a million more than it produced onthe day Mr. Hastings left it. For the truth of this I refer yourLordships to a letter of the Company sent to the Board of Control. Thisletter is not in evidence before your Lordships, and what I am statingis merely historical. But I state the facts, and with the power ofreferring for their proof to documents as authentic as if they wereabsolutely in evidence before you. Assuming, therefore, that all thesefacts may be verified by the records of the Company, I have now to statethat this man, by some rumors true or false, was supposed to havemisconducted himself in a time of great calamity in that country. Agreat famine had about this time grievously afflicted the whole provinceof Bengal. --I must remark by the way, that these countries are liable tothis calamity; but it is greatly blessed by Nature with resources whichafford the means of speedy recovery, if their government does notcounteract them. Nature, that inflicts the calamity, soon heals thewound; it is in ordinary seasons the most fertile country, inhabited bythe most industrious people, and the most disposed to marriage andsettlement, probably, that exists in the whole world; so that populationand fertility are soon restored, and the inhabitants quickly resumetheir former industrious occupations. 

During the agitation excited in the country by the calamity I have justmentioned, Mahomed Reza Khân, through the intrigues of Rajah Nundcomar, one of his political rivals, and of some English faction that supportedhim, was accused of being one of the causes of the famine. In answer tothis charge, he alleged, what was certainly a sufficient justification, that he had acted under the direction of the English board, to which hisconduct throughout this business was fully known. The Company, however, sent an order from England to have him tried; but though he frequentlysupplicated the government at Calcutta that his trial should beproceeded in, in order that he might be either acquitted and dischargedor condemned, Mr. Hastings kept him in prison two years, under pretence(as he wrote word to the Directors) that Mahomed Reza Khân himself wasnot very desirous to hasten the matter. In the mean time the Court ofDirectors, having removed him from his great offices, authorized andcommanded Mr. Hastings (and here we come within the sphere of yourminutes) to appoint a successor to Mahomed Reza Khân, fit to fulfil theduties of his station. Now I shall first show your Lordships what sortof person the Court of Directors described to him as most fit to fillthe office of Mahomed Reza Khân, what sort of person he did appoint, andthen 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 Khân 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 andsupply the place of Mahomed Reza Khân, who was deputy-viceroy of Bengal, at the head of the criminal justice of the country, and, in short, atthe head of the whole ostensible Mahometan government; he was also tosupply the place of Mahomed Reza Khân as naib dewan, from which RezaKhân was to be removed: for you will observe, the Directors always speakof a man fit to perform all the duties of Mahomed Reza Khân; and amongstthese he was to be as the guardian of the Nabob's person, and therepresentative 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 weregiven him. But a very sufficient description was given of the person whoought to succeed Mahomed Reza Khân, in whom the Company had beforerecognized all the necessary qualities; and they therefore desire him toname a similar person. But what does Mr. Hastings do in consequence ofthis authority? He names no man at all. He searches into the seraglio ofthe Nabob, and names a woman to be the viceroy of the province, to bethe head of the ostensible government, to be the guardian of the Nabob'sperson, the conservator of his authority, and a proper representative ofthe remaining majesty of that government. 

Well, my Lords, he searched the seraglio. When you have to take intoconsideration the guardianship of a person of great dignity, there aretwo circumstances to be attended to: one, a faithful and affectionateguardianship of his person; and the other, a strong interest in hisauthority, and the means of exercising that authority in a proper andcompetent manner. Mr. Hastings, when he was looking for a woman in theseraglio, (for he could find women only there, ) must have found actuallyin authority there the Nabob's own mother: certainly a person who bynature was most fit to be his guardian; and there is no manner of doubtof her being sufficiently competent to that duty. Here, then, was alegitimate wife of the Nabob Jaffier Ali Khân, a woman of rank anddistinction, fittest to take care of the person and interests, as far asa woman could take care of them, of her own son. In this situation shehad been placed before, during the administration of Mahomed Reza Khân, 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 togive to such a woman. But what does Mr. Hastings do? He deposes thiswoman. He strips her of her authority with which he found her investedunder the sanction of the English government. He finds out a woman inthe seraglio, called Munny Begum, who was bound to the Nabob by no tiewhatever of natural affection. He makes this woman the guardian of theyoung Nabob's person. She had a son who had been placed upon the musnudafter the death of his father, Sujah Dowlah, and had been appointed hisguardian. This young Nabob died soon afterwards, and was succeeded byNujim ul Dowlah, another natural son of Sujah Dowlah. This prince beingleft without a mother, this woman was suffered to retain theguardianship of the Nabob till his death. When Mobarek ul Dowlah, alegitimate son of Sujah Dowlah, succeeded him, Sir John Cartier did whathis duty was: he put the Nabob's own mother into the place which she wasnaturally entitled to hold, the guardianship of her own son, anddisplaced Munny Begum. The whole of the arrangement by which Munny Begumwas appointed guardian of the two preceding Nabobs stands in theCompany's records stigmatized as a transaction base, wicked, andcorrupt. We will read to your Lordships an extract from a letter whichhas the signature of Mr. Sumner, the gentleman who sits here by the sideof Mr. Hastings, and from which you will learn what the Company and theCouncil thought of the original nomination of Munny Begum and of herson. You will find that they considered her as a great agent andinstrument of all the corruption there; and that this whole transaction, by which the bastard son of Munny Begum was brought forward to theprejudice of the legitimate son of the Nabob, was considered to be, whatit 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 Khân, the naib subah, was then called upon to account for this large disbursement from the treasury; and he soon delivered to the Committee the very extraordinary narrative entered in our Proceedings the 6th of June, wherein he specifies the several names and sums, by whom paid, and to whom, whether in cash, bills, or obligations. So precise, so accurate an account as this of money for secret and venal services was never, we believe, before this period, exhibited to the Honorable Court of Directors, at least never vouched by 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 Khân, 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 Khân, exceeding the immense sum of seventeen lacs, were not the voluntary offerings of gratitude, but contributions levied on the weakness of the government, and violently exacted from the dependent state and timid disposition of the minister. The charge, indeed, is denied on the one hand, as well as affirmed on the other. Your honorable board must therefore determine how far the circumstance of extortion may aggravate the crime of disobedience to your positive orders, --the exposing the government in a manner to sale, and receiving the infamous wages of corruption from opposite parties and contending interests. We speak with boldness, because we speak from conviction founded upon indubitable 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 Khân. 

 (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, andone 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 thegovernment was set to sale, by which a bastard son was elevated to thewrong of the natural and legitimate heir, and in which a prostitute, hismother, was put in the place of the honorable and legitimate mother ofthe 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 concernedin any such infamous transaction as that which is here recorded to beso, --a transaction in which the country government had before been soldto this very woman and her offspring, and in which two great candidatesfor power in that country fought against each other, and perhaps thelargest offerer carried it. 

When a Governor-General sees the traces of corruption in the conduct ofhis predecessors, the traces of injustice following that corruption, thetraces of notorious irregularity in setting aside the just claimants infavor of those that have no claim at all, he has that before his eyeswhich ought to have made him the more scrupulously avoid, and to keep atthe farthest distance possible from, the contagion and even thesuspicion of being corrupted by it. Moreover, my Lords, it was inconsequence of these very transactions that the new covenants were made, which bind the servants of the Company never to take a present of abovetwo hundred pounds, or some such sum of money, from any native incircumstances there described. This covenant I shall reserve forconsideration in another part of this business. It was in pursuance ofthis idea, and to prevent the abuse of the prevailing custom of visitingthe governing powers of that country with a view of receiving presentsfrom them, that the House of Commons afterwards, in its inquiries, tookup this matter and passed the Regulating Act in 1773. 

But to return to Munny Begum. --This very person, that had got into powerby the means already mentioned, did Mr. Hastings resort to, knowing herto be well skilled in the trade of bribery, --knowing her skilfulpractice in business of this sort, --knowing the fitness of her eunuchs, instruments, and agents, to be dealers in this kind of traffic. Thisvery woman did Mr. Hastings select, stigmatized as she was in theCompany's record, stigmatized by the very gentleman who sits next tohim, and whose name you have heard read to you as one of those membersof the Council that reprobated the horrible iniquity of the transactionin which this woman was a principal agent. For though neither the youngNabob nor his mother ought to have been raised to the stations in whichthey were placed, and were placed there for the purpose of facilitatingthe receipt of bribes, yet the order of Nature was preserved, and themother was made the guardian of her own son: for though she was aprostitute and he a bastard, yet still she was a mother and he a son;and both Nature and legitimate disposition with regard to theguardianship 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 awaythe lawful mother from her lawful guardianship; the mother of nature heturns out, and he delivers her son to the stepmother to be the guardianof his person. That your Lordships may see who this woman was, we shallread 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 Khân, by whom she had a son and a daughter; the name of the former was Mir Mahomed Sadduc Ali Khân, and the latter was married to Mir Mahomed Cossim Khân Sadduc. Ali Khân 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 Khân, and married Mir Mahomed Jaffier Khân. 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 Khân, whose name was Bissoo. During the space of five years she lived at Shahjehanabad, and was educated by Bissoo after the manner of a dancing-girl. Afterwards the Nabob Shamut Jung, upon the marriage of Ikram ul Dowlah, brother to the Nabob Surajah ul Dowlah, sent for Bissoo Beg's set of dancing-girls from Shahjehanabad, of which Munny Begum was one, and allowed them ten thousand rupees for their expenses, to dance at the wedding. While 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 Khân then took them into keeping, and allowed Munny and her set five hundred rupees per month, till at length, finding that Munny was pregnant, he took her into his own house. She gave birth to the Nabob Nujim ul Dowlah, and in this manner she has remained in the Nabob's family ever since. "

My Lords, I do not mean to detain you long upon this part of thebusiness, but I have thought it necessary to advert to theseparticulars. As to all the rest, the honorable and able Manager whopreceded me has sufficiently impressed upon your Lordships' minds themonstrous nature of the deposing of the Nabob's mother from theguardianship of her son, for the purpose of placing this woman there atthe head of all his family and of his domestic concerns in the seragliowithin doors, and at the head of the state without, together with thedisposal of the whole of the revenue that was allowed him. Mr. Hastingspretends, indeed, to have appointed at the same time a trusty mutsuddyto keep the accounts of the revenue; but he has since declared that noaccount had been kept, and that it was in vain to desire it or to callfor it. This is the state of the case with respect to the appointment ofMunny Begum. 

With regard to the reappointment of Mahomed Reza Khân, you have heardfrom my worthy fellow Manager that he was acquitted of the charges thathad been brought against him by Mr. Hastings, after a long and lingeringtrial. The Company was perfectly satisfied with the acquittal, anddeclared that he was not only acquitted, but honorably acquitted; andthey also declared that he had a fair claim to a compensation for hissufferings. They not only declared him innocent, but meritorious. Theygave orders that he should be considered as a person who was to beplaced in office again upon the first occasion, and that he had entitledhimself to this favor by his conduct in the place which he had beforefilled. 

The Council of the year 1775, (whom I can never mention nor shallmention without honor, ) who complied faithfully with the act ofParliament, who never disobeyed the orders of the Company, and to whomno man has imputed even the shadow of corruption, found that this MunnyBegum had acted in the manner which my honorable fellow Manager hasstated: that she had dissipated the revenue, that she had neglected theeducation of the Nabob, and had thrown the whole judicature of thecountry into confusion. They ordered that she should be removed from hersituation; that the Nabob's own mother should be placed at the head ofthe seraglio, a situation to which she was entitled; and with regard tothe rest of the offices, that Mahomed Reza Khân should be employed tofill them. 

Mr. Hastings resisted these propositions with all his might; but theywere by that happy momentary majority carried against him, and MahomedReza Khân was placed in his former situation. But Mr. Hastings, thoughthus defeated, was only waiting for what he considered to be thefortunate moment for returning again to his corrupt, vicious, tyrannical, and disobedient habits. The reappointment of Mahomed RezaKhân had met with the fullest approbation of the Company; and theydirected, that, as long as his good behavior entitled him to it, heshould continue in the office. Mr. Hastings, however, without allegingany ill behavior, and for no reason that can be assigned, but hiscorrupt engagement with Munny Begum, overturned (upon the pretence ofrestoring the Nabob to his rights) the whole of the Company'sarrangement, as settled by the late majority, and approved by the Courtof Directors. 

I have now to show you what sort of a man the Nabob was, who was thusset up in defiance of the Company's authority; what Mr. Hastings himselfthought of him; what the judges thought of him; and what all the worldthought of him. 

I must first make your Lordships acquainted with a little preliminarymatter. 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 creditorsattached him there. Roy Rada Churn pleaded his privilege as the vakeelor representative of a sovereign prince. The question came to be triedin the Supreme Court, and the issue was, Whether the Nabob was asovereign prince or not. I think the court did exceedingly wrong inentertaining such a question; because, in my opinion, whether he was orwas not a sovereign prince, any person representing him ought to be leftfree, and to have a proper and secure means of concerting his affairswith the Council. It was, however, taken otherwise; the question wasbrought to trial, whether the Nabob was a sovereign prince sufficient toappoint and protect a person to manage his affairs, under the name of anambassador. In that cause did Mr. Hastings come forward to prove, by avoluntary affidavit, that he had no pretensions, no power, no authorityat all, --that he was a mere pageant, a thing of straw, --and that theCompany exercised every species of authority over him, in everyparticular, and in every respect; and that, therefore, to talk of him asan efficient person was an affront to the common sense of mankind: andthis you will find the judges afterwards declared to be their opinion. 

I will here press again one remark, which perhaps you may recollect thatI have made before, that the chief and most usual mode in which all thevillanies perpetrated in India, by Mr. Hastings and his co-partners ininiquity, has been through the medium and instrumentality of personswhom they pretended to have rights of their own, and to be acting forthemselves; whereas such persons were, in fact, totally dependent uponhim, 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 ofIndia are represented to be independent, and are held up as theinstruments of defying the laws of this kingdom, under pretext of theirbeing 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 Khân, 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 thisaffidavit, which is in your minutes, and, to save time, I will referyour Lordships to them. This affidavit, as I have already said, was putinto 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 particularnotice of your Lordships, when you are scrutinizing this matter, is, that there is not a single point stated, to prove the nullity of thisNabob'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 hisdecision; he builds and bottoms it upon the Governor-General'saffidavit;--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 erectcourts of law and superintend the administration of justice, without anycommunication with the Nabob? Had the Nabob himself any idea that he wasa sovereign? Does he complain of the reduction of his stipend or theinfringement of treaties? No; he appears to consider himself to be, whatin fact he really is, absolutely dependent on the Company, and to bewilling to accept any pittance they would allow him for his maintenance:he claims no rights. Does he complain that the administration of justiceis taken into the hands of the Company? No: by the treaty, theprotection of his subjects is delivered up to the Company; and he wellknew, that, whoever may be held up as the ostensible prince, theadministration of justice must be in the hands of those who have powerto enforce it. " He goes on, --"The Governor-General, who, I suppose, hada delicacy to state more than what had before been made public, closeshis affidavit with saying that all he has deposed to he believes to bepublicly known, as it is particularly set forth in the printed bookentitled 'Reports of the Committee of the House of Commons. ' I knew, " headds, "it was there, and was therefore surprised at this application; itis so notorious, that everybody in the settlement must have known it:when I say everybody, I mean with an exception to the gentlemen who haveapplied to the court. The only reason I can give for their applying isthe little time they have been in the country. " The judge (I think it isChief-Justice Impey) then goes on, --"Perhaps this question might havebeen determined merely on the dates of the letters to theGovernor-General; but as the Council have made the other a seriousquestion, I should not have thought that I had done my duty, if I hadnot given a full and determinate opinion upon it: I should have beensorry, if I had left it doubtful whether the empty name of a Nabobshould be thrust between a delinquent and the laws, so as effectually toprotect him from the hand of justice. "

My Lords, the court, as you see, bottoms its determination on what westand upon here, Mr. Hastings's evidence, that the empty name of apretended sovereign should not be thrust forth between a delinquent andjustice. 

What does Mr. Le Maistre, the other judge, say upon this occasion? "Withregard to this phantom, that man of straw, Mobarek ul Dowlah, it is aninsult on the understanding of the court to have made the question ofhis sovereignty. But as it came from the Governor-General and Council, Ihave too much respect for that body to treat it ludicrously, and Iconfess I cannot consider it seriously, and we always shall consider aletter of business from the Nabob the same as a letter from theGovernor-General and Council. "

This is the unanimous opinion of all the judges concerning the state andcondition of the Nabob. We have thus established the point we mean toestablish: that any use which shall be made of the Nabob's name for thepurpose of justifying any disobedience to the orders of the Company, orof bringing forward corrupt and unfit persons for the government, couldbe considered as no other than the act of the persons who shall makesuch a use of it; and that no letter that the Nabob writes to any one inpower was or could be considered as any other than the letter of thatperson himself. This we wish to impress upon your Lordships, because, asyou have before seen the use that has been made in this way of the Nabobof Oude, you may judge of the use that has been made of the name ofHyder Beg Khân, and of the names of all the eminent persons of thecountry. 

One word more and I have done. If, whilst you remark the use that ismade of this man's name, your Lordships shall find that this use hasever been made of his name for his benefit, or for the purpose of givinghim any useful or substantial authority, or of meliorating his conditionin any way whatever; forgive the fraud, forgive the disobedience. But ifwe have shown your Lordships that it was for no other purpose than todisobey the orders of the Company, to trample upon the laws of hiscountry, to introduce back again, and to force into power, those verycorrupt and wicked instruments which had formerly done so muchmischief, and for which mischief they were removed, then we shall nothave passed our time in vain, in endeavoring to prove that this man, inthe 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 atool in his hands. 

 * * * * *

Having stated to your Lordships generally the effects produced upon theMahometan interest of Bengal by the misconduct of the prisoner at yourbar with respect to the appointment of the guardian of the Nabob orSubahdar of that province, and of the ministers of his government, Ishall have the honor of attending your Lordships another day, and shallshow you the use that has been made of this government and of theauthority of the Nabob, who, as your Lordships have seen, was the merephantom of power; and I shall show how much a phantom he was for everygood purpose, and how effectual an instrument he was made for every badone. 

SPEECH

IN

GENERAL REPLY. 

EIGHTH DAY: SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1794

My Lords, --Your Lordships heard, upon the last day of the meeting ofthis high court, the distribution of the several matters which I shouldhave occasion to lay before you, and by which I resolved to guidemyself in the examination of the conduct of Mr. Hastings with regard toBengal. I stated that I should first show the manner in which hecomported himself with regard to the people who were found in possessionof the government when we first entered into Bengal. We have shown toyour Lordships the progressive steps by which the native government wasbrought into a state of annihilation. We have stated the manner in whichthat government was solemnly declared by a court of justice to bedepraved, and incompetent to act, and dead in law. We have shown to yourLordships (and we have referred you to the document) that its death wasdeclared upon a certificate of the principal attending physician of thestate, namely, Mr. Warren Hastings himself. This was declared in anaffidavit made by him, wherein he has gone through all the powers ofgovernment, of which he had regularly despoiled the Nabob Mobarek ulDowlah, part by part, exactly according to the ancient formula by whicha 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 himnothing. Mr. Hastings laid down all the premises, and left the judges todraw the conclusion. 

Your Lordships will remark (for you will find it on your minutes) thatthe judges have declared this affidavit of Mr. Hastings to be a_delicate_ affidavit. We have heard of affidavits that were true; wehave heard of affidavits that were perjured; but this is the firstinstance that has come to our knowledge (and we receive it as a proof ofIndian refinement) of a delicate affidavit. This affidavit of Mr. Hastings we shall show to your Lordships is not entitled to thedescription of a good affidavit, however it might be entitled, in theopinion of those judges, to the description of a delicate affidavit, --aphrase by which they appear to have meant that he had furnished all theproofs of the Nabob's deposition, but had delicately avoided to declarehim expressly deposed. The judges drew, however, this indelicateconclusion; the conclusion they drew was founded upon the premises; itwas 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 theydeclared that any letter or paper that was produced from him could notbe considered as an act of government. So effectually was he removed bythe judges out of the way, that no minority, no insanity, no physicalcircumstances, not even death itself, could put a man more completelyout of sight. They declare that they would consider his letters in noother light than as the letters of the Company, represented by theGovernor-General and Council. Thus, then, we find the Nabob legallydead. 

We find next, that he was politically dead. Mr. Hastings, not satisfiedwith the affidavit he made in court, has thought proper upon record toinform the Company and the world of what he considered him to be civillyand 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 greatarcanum of the state is avowed: it is avowed that the government isours, --that the Nabob is nothing. It is avowed to foreign nations; andthe 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 exactand the perfect agreement between his character as a delicateaffidavit-maker in a court of justice and his indelicate declarationsupon the records of the Company for the information of the whole worldconcerning the real arcanum of the Bengal government. 

Now I cannot help praising his consistency upon this occasion, whetherhis policy was right or wrong. Hitherto we find the whole consistent, wefind the affidavit perfectly supported. The inferences which delicacy atfirst prevented him from producing better recollection and more perfectpolicy made him here avow. In this state things continued. The Nabob, your Lordships see, is dead, --dead in law, dead in politics, dead in acourt of justice, dead upon the records of the Company. Except in mereanimal existence, it is all over with him. 

I have now to state to your Lordships, that Mr. Hastings, who has thepower of putting even to death in this way, possesses likewise the artof restoring to life. But what is the medicine that revives them? YourLordships, I am sure, will be glad to know what nostrum, not hithertopretended to by quacks in physic, by quacks in politics, nor by quacksin law, will serve to revive this man, to cover his dead bones withflesh, and to give him life, activity, and vigor. My Lords, I am aboutto tell you an instance of a recipe of such infallible efficacy as wasnever before discovered. His cure for all disorders is disobedience tothe commands of his lawful superiors. When the orders of the Court ofDirectors are contrary to his own opinions, he forgets them all. Let theCourt of Directors but declare in favor of his own system and his ownpositions, and that very moment, merely for the purpose of declaring hisright of rebellion against the laws of his country, he counteracts them. Then these dead bones arise, --or, to use a language more suitable tothe dignity of the thing, Bayes's men are all revived. "Are these mendead?" asks Mr. Bayes's friend. "No, " says he, "they shall all get upand dance immediately. " But in this ludicrous view of Mr. Hastings'sconduct, your Lordships must not lose sight of its great importance. Youcannot have in an abstract, as it were, any one thing that betterdevelops the principles of the man, that more fully develops all thesources of his conduct, and of all the frauds and iniquities which hehas committed, in order at one and the same time to evade his duty tothe Court of Directors, that is to say, to the laws of his country, andto oppress, crush, rob, and ill-treat the people that are under him. 

My Lords, you have had an account of the person who represented theNabob's dignity, Mahomed Reza Khân; 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 toappoint him Naib Subah, or deputy of the Nabob, and more especially torepresent him in the administering of justice. Your Lordships are alsoacquainted with what was done in consequence of those orders by theCouncil-General, in the restoration and reëstablishment of the executivepower 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 deputyviceroy, --in order to give some degree of support to the expiring honorand 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 tothemselves, and a purity untouched and unimpeached, stand distinguishedand honored, in spite of all the corrupt and barking virulence of Indiaagainst them, --these men, I say, obeyed the Company: they had no secretor fraudulent connection with Mahomed Reza Khân; but they reinstated himin his office. 

The moment that real death had carried away two of the most virtuous ofthis community, and that Mr. Hastings was thereby reëstablished in hispower, he returned to his former state of rebellion to the Company, andof fraud and oppression upon the people. And here we come to therevivificating medicine. I forgot to tell your Lordships, that thisNabob, whose letters were declared by a court of law, with his ownapprobation, to be in effect letters of the Governor-General andCouncil, concludes a formal application transmitted to them, and dated17th 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 andrecorded opinion. In direct defiance of both, because he wishes to makedoubtful the orders of the Company and to evade his duty, he here makeswithout any delicacy a declaration, which if it be true, the affidavitis a gross perjury, let it be managed with what delicacy he pleases. Theword _nizamut_, which he uses, may be unfamiliar to your Lordships. InIndia it signifies the whole executive government, though the wordstrictly means viceroyalty: all the princes of that country holdingtheir dominions as representatives of the Mogul, the great nominalsovereign of the empire. To convince you that it does so, take his ownexplanation 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 yourconsideration the charges of the House of Commons, that the person theyaccuse, and persons suborned by him, have never scrupled to be guilty, without sense of shame, of the most notorious falsehoods, the mostglaring inconsistencies, and even of perjury itself; and that it is thusthey make the power of the Company dead or alive, as best suits theirown wicked, clandestine, and fraudulent purposes, and the great end ofall their actions and all their politics plunder and peculation. 

I must here refer your Lordships to a minute of Mr. Francis's, which Irecommend to your reading at large, and to your very seriousrecollection, in page 1086; because it contains a complete history ofMr. Hastings's conduct, and of its effects upon this occasion. 

And now to proceed. --The Nabob, in a subsequent application to theCompany's government at Calcutta, desires that Munny Begum may beallowed to take on herself the whole administration of the affairs ofthe nizamut, (not the superiority in the administration of the affairsof the seraglio only, though this would have been a tyrannicalusurpation of the power belonging to the legitimate mother of theNabob, ) without the interference of any person whatever; and he adds, that by this the Governor will give him complete satisfaction. In allfraudulent correspondence you are sure to find the true secret of it atlast. It has been said by somebody, that the true sense of a letter isto be learnt from its postscript. But this matter is so clumsilymanaged, that, in contempt of all decency, the first thing the Nabobdoes is to desire he may be put into the hands of Munny Begum, and thatwithout the interference of anybody whatever. 

The next letter, immediately following on the heels of the former, wasreceived by the Council on the 12th of February, 1778. In this letter hedesires that Mahomed Reza Khân may be removed from his office in thegovernment; and he expresses his hopes, that, as he himself is now cometo years of maturity, and by the blessing of God is not so devoid ofunderstanding as to be incapable of conducting his affairs, he says, "Iam therefore hopeful, from your favor and regard to justice, that youwill deliver me from the authority of the aforesaid Mahomed Reza Khân, and give your permission that I take on myself the management of theadawlut and foujdarry. " There is no doubt of this latter application, incontradiction to the former, having arisen from a suspicion that theappointment of Munny Begum would be too gross, and would shock theCouncil; and Mr. Hastings therefore orders the second letter to bewritten from the Nabob, in which he claims the powers of government forhimself. Then follows a letter from the Governor-General, informing theNabob that it had been agreed, that, his Excellency being now arrived atyears of maturity, the control of his own household, and the courtsdependent on the nizamut and foujdarry, should be placed in his hands;and Mahomed Reza Khân was directed at the same time to resign hisauthority 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 yourLordships are sick of the name of Nabob, as a real actor in thegovernment. You now see the true parties in the transaction, --namely, the lover, Warren Hastings, Esquire, and Munny Begum, the object of hispassion and flame, to which he sacrifices as much as Antony ever did toCleopatra. You see the object of his love and affection placed in theadministration of the viceroyalty; you see placed at her disposal theadministration of the civil judicature, and of the executoryjustice, --together with the salary which was intended for Mahomed RezaKhân. 

Your Lordships will be pleased to remember that this distribution of theNabob's government was made in direct defiance of the orders of theCompany. And as a further proof of this defiance, it will not escapeyour Lordships, that, before this measure was carried into execution, Mr. Barwell being one day absent from the Council, Mr. Hastings fellinto a minority; and it was agreed, upon that occasion, that the wholeaffair should be referred home to the Court of Directors, and that noarrangement should be made till the Directors had given their opinion. Mr. Hastings, the very moment after Mr. Barwell's return to his seat inthe Council, rescinds this resolution, which subjected the orders of theCourt of Directors to their own reconsideration; and he hurries headlongand precipitately into the execution of his first determination. YourLordships will also see in this act what sort of use Mr. Hastings madeof the Council; and I have therefore insisted upon all these practicesof the prisoner at your bar, because there is not one of them in whichsome 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 whattyranny was exercised by this woman over the multitude of women there. Ishall now show your Lordships in what manner she made use of her powerover the _supreme judicature_, to peculate, and to destroy the country;and I shall adduce, as proofs of this abuse of her authority, the factsI am about to relate, and of which there is evidence before yourLordships. 

There was an ostensible man, named Sudder ul Huk Khân, placed there atthe head of the administration of justice, with a salary of seventhousand pounds a year of the Company's money. This man, in a letter tothe Governor-General and Council, received the 1st of September, 1778, says, --"His Highness himself [the Nabob] is not deficient in regard forme, but certain bad men have gained an ascendency over his temper, bywhose instigation he acts. " You will see, my Lords, how this poor manwas crippled in the execution of his duty, and dishonored by thecorruption of this woman and her eunuchs, to whom Mr. Hastings had giventhe supreme government, and with it an uncontrolled influence over allthe dependent parts. After thus complaining of the slights he receivesfrom the Nabob, he adds, --"Thus they cause the Nabob to treat me, sometimes with indignity, at others with kindness, just as they thinkproper to advise him: their view is, that, by compelling me todispleasure at such unworthy treatment, they may force me either torelinquish 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 letterto the Governor, Sudder ul Huk Khân says, --"The Begum's ministers, before my arrival, with the advice of their counsellors, caused theNabob to sign a receipt, in consequence of which they received, at twodifferent times, near fifty thousand rupees, in the name of the officersof the adawlut, foujdarry, &c. , from the Company's sircar; and havingdrawn up an account current in the manner they wished, they got theNabob to sign it, and then sent it to me. " In the same letter he assertsthat these people have the Nabob entirely in their power. 

Now I have only to remark to your Lordships, that the first andimmediate operation of Mr. Hastings's regulation, which put everythinginto the hands of this wicked woman for her corrupt purposes, was, thatthe office of chief-justice was trampled upon and depraved, and made useof to plunder the Company of money, which was appropriated to their ownuses, --and that the person ostensibly holding this office was forced tobecome the instrument in the hands of this wicked woman and her twowicked eunuchs. This, then, was the representation which thechief-justice made to Mr. Hastings, as one of the very first fruits ofhis new arrangement. I am now to tell you what his next step was. Thissame Mr. Hastings, who had made the Nabob master of everything andplaced everything at his disposal, who had maintained that the Nabob wasnot to act a secondary part and to be a mere instrument in the hands ofthe Company, who had, as you have seen, revived the Nabob, now puts himto death again. He pretends to be shocked at these proceedings of theNabob, and, not being able to prevent their coming before the Council ofthe Directors at home, he immediately took Sudder ul Huk Khân under hisprotection. 

Now your Lordships see Mr. Hastings appearing in his own characteragain, --exercising the power he had pretended to abdicate, whilst theNabob sinks and subsides under him. He becomes the supporter of Sudderul Huk Khân, now that the infamy of the treatment he received could nolonger be concealed from the Council. On the 1st of September, 1778, theGovernor informs the Nabob, "that it is highly expedient that Sudder ulHuk Khân should have full control in all matters relative to his office, and the sole appointment and dismission of the sudder and mofussilofficers; and that his seal and signature should be authentic to allpapers having relation to the business intrusted to him: I thereforeintimate to you, that he should appoint and dismiss all the officersunder 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 allconcern with the affairs of the foujdarry and adawlut, leaving theentire management in Sudder ul Huk Khân's hands. " Here you see the Nabobagain reduced to his former state of subordination. Thischief-justiceship, which was declared to be his inherent right, he isobliged to submit to the control of Mr. Hastings, and to declare that hewill not interfere at all in a matter which Mr. Hastings had declared tobe his incommunicable attribute. I do not say that Mr. Hastingsinterfered improperly. Certainly it was not fit that the highest courtof justice in all Bengal should be made the instrument of the rapacityof a set of villains with a prostitute at their head: just as if a gangof thieves in England, with their prostitutes at their head, shouldseize the judge which ought to punish them, and endeavor to make use ofhis name in their iniquitous transactions. But your Lordships will findthat Mr. Hastings is here acting a merely ostensible part, and that hehas always a means of defeating privately what he declares publicly tobe his intention. Your Lordships will see soon how this ended. Mr. Hastings gets the Nabob to give up all his authority over thechief-justice; but he says not one word of Munny Begum, the person whohad the real authority in her hands, and who was not forbidden tointerfere with him. Mr. Hastings's order is dated the 1st September, 1778. On the 3d of September, the Nabob is said to have relinquished allconcern with Sudder ul Huk Khân. In a letter received the 30th ofSeptember, (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 Khân thus writes, in a letter received the 30th ofSeptember. 

 "Yatibar Ali Khân, " (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, andwho could neither control or take the least share in the execution ofthem; 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 thatthe first use made of the restored authority of the Nabob was, undervarious pretences, to leave the salaries of the officers of governmentunprovided for, to rob the public treasury, and to give the Company'smoney to the eunuchs, who were acting in the manner I have stated toyou. 

Information of these proceedings reaches Calcutta; a regular complaintfrom a person in the highest situation in the government is made, andthe Governor-General is obliged again to take up the matter; and Ishall 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 fataleffects which his interference in the administration of justice hadproduced as not to stand in need of any comment from me. It speaks tooplainly to require any. 

 _The Governor-General's Letter to the Nabob_. 

 "At your Excellency's request I sent Sudder ul Huk Khân to take on him the administration of the affairs of the adawlut and foujdarry, and hoped by that means not only to have given satisfaction to your Excellency, but that, through his abilities and experience, these affairs would have been conducted in such manner as to have secured the peace of the country and the happiness of the people; and it is with the greatest concern I learn that this measure is so far from being attended with the expected advantages, that the affairs both of the foujdarry and adawlut are in the greatest confusion imaginable, and daily robberies and murders are perpetrated throughout the country. This is evidently owing to the want of a proper authority in the person appointed to superintend them. I therefore addressed your Excellency on the importance and delicacy of the affairs in question, and of the necessity of lodging full power in the hands of the person chosen to administer them, in reply to which your Excellency expressed sentiments coincident with mine; notwithstanding which, your dependants and people, actuated by selfish and avaricious views, have by their interference so impeded the business as to throw the whole country into a state of confusion, from which nothing can retrieve it but an unlimited power lodged in the hands of the superintendent. I therefore request that your Excellency will give the strictest injunctions to all your dependants not to interfere in any manner with any matter relative to the affairs of the adawlut and foujdarry, and that you will yourself relinquish all interference therein, and leave them entirely to the management of Sudder ul Huk Khân. This is absolutely necessary to restore the country to a state of tranquillity; 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 presentpurpose, --referring your Lordships for fuller information to yourMinutes, page 1086, which I beg you to read with the greatest attention. 

I must again beg your Lordships to remark, that, though Mr. Hastings hasthe impudence still to pretend that he wishes for the restoration oforder and justice in the country, yet, instead of writing to Munny Begumupon the business, whom he knew to be the very object complained of, andwhose eunuchs are expressly mentioned in the complaint, he writes to theNabob, whom he knew to be a pageant in his own court and government, andwhose name was not even mentioned in this last complaint. Not one wordis said, even in this letter to the Nabob, of Munny Begum or of hereunuchs. My Lords, when you consider his tacit support of the authors ofthe grievance, and his ostensible application for redress to the manwho he knew never authorized and could not redress the grievance, youmust conclude that he meant to keep the country in the same state forhis own corrupt purposes. In this state the country in fact continued;Munny Begum and her eunuchs continued to administer and squander theCompany's money, as well as the Nabob's; robberies and murders continuedto 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 ofDirectors with horror and indignation. On the 27th of May, 1779, theywrite, as you will find in page 1063 of your printed Minutes, a letterto their government at Calcutta, condemning their proceedings and theremoval of Mahomed Reza Khân, and they order that Munny Begum shall bedisplaced, and Mahomed Reza Khân restored again to the seat of justice. 

Mr. Francis, upon the arrival of these reiterated orders, moved inCouncil for an obedience to them. Mr. Hastings, notwithstanding he hadbefore his eyes all the horrible consequences that attended his newarrangement, still resists that proposition. By his casting voice in theCouncil he counter-orders the orders of the Court of Directors, andsanctions a direct disobedience to their authority, by a resolution thatMahomed Reza Khân should not be restored to his employment, but thatthis Sudder ul Huk Khân, who still continued in the condition alreadydescribed, should remain in the possession of his office. I say nothingof Sudder ul Huk Khân; 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 Khân had been reinstated, and no better supported by Mr. Hastings than Sudder ul Huk Khân, he could probably have kept thecountry in no better order, though, perhaps, his name, and the authorityand weight which still adhered to him in some degree, might have hadsome influence. 

My Lords, you have seen his defiance of the Company; you have seen hisdefiance of all decency; you see his open protection of prostitutes androbbers of every kind ravaging Bengal; you have seen this defiance ofthe authority of the Court of Directors flatly, directly, andperemptorily persisted in to the last. Order after order was reiterated, but his disobedience arose with an elastic spring in proportion to thepressure that was upon it. 

My Lords, here there was a pause. The Directors had been disobeyed; andyou might suppose that he would have been satisfied with this act ofdisobedience. My Lords, he was resolved to let the native governments ofthe country know that he despised the orders of the Court of Directors, and that, whenever he pretended to obey them, in reality he was resolvedupon the most actual disobedience. An event now happened, theparticulars of which we are not to repeat here. Disputes, conducted, onMr. Francis's side, upon no other principle, that we can discover, but adesire to obey the Company's orders, and to execute his duty withfidelity and disinterestedness, had arisen between him and Mr. Hastings. Mr. Francis, about the time we have been speaking of, finding resistancewas vain, reconciles himself to him, --but on the most honorable terms asa public man, namely, that he should continue to follow and obey thelaws, and to respect the authority of the Court of Directors. Upon thisreconciliation, it was agreed that Mahomed Reza Khân should be restoredto his office. For this purpose Mr. Hastings enters a minute, and writesto the Nabob an ostensible letter. But your Lordships will here see aninstance of what I said respecting a double current in all Mr. Hastings's proceedings. Even when he obeys or pretends to obey theCompany's orders, there is always a private channel through which hedefeats 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 Khân 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 Khân 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 andreplaces Mahomed Reza Khân. Mahomed Reza Khân, then, is inpossession, --and in possession by the best of all titles, the orders ofthe Company. But you will also see the manner in which he evades hisduty, and vilifies in the eyes of these miserable country powers theauthority of the Directors. He is prepared, as usual, with a defeasanceof his own act; and the manner in which that defeasance came to ourknowledge is this. We knew nothing of this private affair, till Mr. Hastings, in his answer before the House of Commons, finding itnecessary to destroy the validity of some of his own acts, broughtforward Sir John D'Oyly. He was brought forward before us, not as awitness in his own person for the defence of Mr. Hastings, but as anarrator who had been employed by Mr. Hastings as a member of thatCouncil which, as you have heard, drew up his defence. My Lords, youhave already seen the public agency of this business, you have heardread the public letter sent to the Nabob: there you see the ostensiblepart of the transaction. Now hear the banian, Sir John D'Oyly, give anaccount of his part in it, extracted from Mr. Hastings's defence beforethe 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 Khân 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. Hewrites an ostensible letter to the Nabob, declaring that what he does isin 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 donewas not in compliance with the orders of the Company, but in consequenceof the arrangement he had made with Mr. Francis, which arrangement hethought necessary for the support of his own personal power. His design, in thus explaining the transaction to the Nabob, was in order toprevent the native powers from looking to any other authority than his, and from having the least hopes of redress of their complaints from thejustice of this country or from any legal power in it. He thereforetells him that Mahomed Reza Khân was replaced, not in obedience to theorders of the Company, but to gratify Mr. Francis. If he quarrels withMr. Francis, he makes that a reason for disobeying the orders of hismasters; if he agrees with him, he informs the people concerned in thetransaction, privately, that he acts, not in consequence of the ordersthat he has received, but from other motives. But that is not all. Hepromises that he will take the first opportunity to remove Mahomed RezaKhân from his office again. Thus the country is to be re-plunged intothe same distracted and ruined state in which it was before. And allthis is laid open fully and distinctly before you. You have it on theauthority 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 Khân, I must now tell you, was accordingly reinstated inall his offices, and the Nabob was reduced to the situation, as Mr. Hastings upon another occasion describes it, of a mere cipher. But markwhat followed, --mark what this Sir John D'Oyly is made to tell you, orwhat Mr. Hastings tells you for him: for whether Sir John D'Oyly haswritten this for Mr. Hastings, or Mr. Hastings for Sir John D'Oyly, I donot know; because they seem, as somebody said of two great friends, thatthey had but one will, one bed, and one hat between them. Thesegentlemen who compose Mr. Hastings's Council have but one style ofwriting among them; so that it is impossible for you to determine bywhich of the masters of this Roman school any paper waswritten, --whether by D'Oyly, by Shore, or by Hastings, or any other ofthem. They have a style in common, a kind of bank upon which they have ageneral credit; and you cannot tell to whose account anything is to beplaced. 

But to proceed. --Sir John D'Oyly says there, that the Nabob is reducedagain to a cipher. Now hear what he afterwards says. "About the month ofJune, 1781, Mr. Hastings, being then at Moorshedabad, communicated to mehis intention of performing his promise to the Nabob, by restoring himto the management of his own affairs, "--that is to say, by restoringMunny Begum again, and by turning out Mahomed Reza Khân. Your Lordshipssee that he communicated privately his intentions to Sir John D'Oyly, without communicating one word of them to his colleagues in the SupremeCouncil, 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 restoredto his power, I refer your Lordships to the order he gave to Sir JohnD'Oyly for investigating the Nabob's accounts, and for drawing uparticles of instructions for the Nabob's conduct in the management ofhis affairs. You will there see clearly how he was restored: that is tosay, that he was taken out of the hands of the first Mussulman in thatcountry, the man most capable of administering justice, and whom theCompany had expressly ordered to be invested with that authority, and toput him into the hands of Sir John D'Oyly. Is Sir John D'Oyly aMussulman? Is Sir John D'Oyly fit to be at the head of such agovernment? What was there that any person could see about him, thatentitled him to or made him a fit person to be intrusted with thispower, in defiance of the Company's orders? And yet Mahomed Reza Khân, who was to have the management of the Nabob's affairs, was himself putunder the most complete and perfect subjection to this Sir John D'Oyly. But, in fact, Munny Begum had the real influence in everything. Sir JohnD'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 writtenat this time by Mr. Hastings to the Nabob discovers the secret beyondall 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 hasarrived at sufficient age to supersede the counsel and advice of thegreat Mahometan doctors and the great nobility of the country, and he isput under the most absolute guardianship of Sir John D'Oyly. But Mr. Hastings has given Sir John D'Oyly a great character. I cannot confirmit, because I can confirm the character of none of Mr. Hastings'sinstruments. They must stand forth here, and defend their own characterbefore you. 

Your Lordships will now be pleased to advert to another circumstance inthis transaction. You see here 40, 000_l. _ a year offered by this man forhis redemption. "I will give you, " he says, "40, 000_l. _ a year to havethe management of my own affairs. " Good heavens! Here is a man, who, according to Mr. Hastings's assertion, had an indisputable right to themanagement of his own affairs, but at the same time was notoriously solittle fit to have the management of them as to be always under somecorrupt tyranny or other, offers 40, 000_l. _ a year out of his ownrevenues to be left his own master, and to be permitted to have thedisposal of the remainder. Judge you of the bribery, rapine, andpeculation which here stare you in the face. Judge of the nature andcharacter of that government for the management of which 40, 000_l. _, outof 160, 000_l. _ a year of its revenue, is offered by a subordinate to thesupreme authority of the country. This offer shows that at this time theNabob had it not himself. Who had it? Sir John D'Oyly; he is broughtforward 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 thenarrative that he makes before the House of Commons, positively to denyin 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 anoffer. That such an offer was made had been long published and long inprint, with the remarks such as I have made upon it in the Ninth Reportof the Select Committee; that the Committee had so done was well knownto 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 tocontradict it, until the appearance of the latter before the House ofCommons. But, my Lords, there is something much more serious in thistransaction. It is this, --that the evidence produced by Mr. Hastings isthe evidence of witnesses who are mere phantoms; they are persons whocould not, under Mr. Hastings's government, eat a bit of bread but uponhis own terms, and they are brought forward to give such evidence as mayanswer his purposes. 

You would naturally have imagined, that, in the House of Commons, whereclouds of witnesses had been before produced by the friends and agentsof Mr. Hastings, he would then have brought forward Sir John tocontradict this reported offer; but not a word from Sir John D'Oyly. Atlast he is examined before the Committee of Managers. He refuses toanswer. Why? Because his answers might criminate himself. My Lords, every answer that most of them have been required to make they aresensible they cannot make without danger of criminating themselves, being all involved in the crimes of the prisoner. He has corrupted andruined the whole service; there is not one of them that dares appear andgive 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 thisquestion, " they say, "because it tends to criminate myself. " How comesit that the Company's servants are not able to give evidence in theaffairs of Mr. Hastings, without its tending to criminate themselves?

Well, --Sir John D'Oyly is in England, --why is he not called now? I havenot the honor of being intimately acquainted with him, but he is a manof a reputable and honorable family. Why is he not called by Mr. Hastings to verify the assertion, and why do they suffer this blackrecord to stand before your Lordships to be urged by us, and to press itas we do against him? If he knows that Sir John D'Oyly can acquit him ofthis part of our accusation, he would certainly bring him as a witnessto your bar; but he knows he cannot. When, therefore, I see upon yourrecords that Sir John D'Oyly and Mr. Hastings received such an offer forthe 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 ofhis own affairs, --and, secondly, that those who had the disposal of themdisposed of them so corruptly and prodigally that he thought they couldhardly be redeemed at too high a price. What explanation of this matterhas been attempted? There is no explanation given of it at all. Itstands clear, full, bare in all its nakedness before you. They have notattempted to produce the least evidence against it. Therefore in thatstate I leave it with you; and I shall only add, that Mr. Hastingscontinued to make Munny Begum the first object of his attention, andthat, though he could not entirely remove Mahomed Reza Khân from theseat of justice, he was made a cipher in it. All his other offices weretaken out of his hands and put into the hands of Sir John D'Oyly, directly contrary to the orders of the Company, which certainly impliedthe restitution of Mahomed Reza Khân to all the offices which he hadbefore held. He was stripped of everything but a feeble administrationof justice, which, I take for granted, could not, under thecircumstances, have been much better in his hands than it had been inSudder ul Huk Khân's. 

Mr. Hastings's protection of this woman continued to the last; and whenhe was going away, on the 3d of November, 1783, he wrote a sentimentalletter to the Court of Directors in her praise. This letter wastransmitted without having been communicated to the Council. You haveheard of delicate affidavits; here you have a sentimental officialdespatch: your Lordships will find it in page 1092 and 1093 of yourprinted Minutes. He writes in such a delicate, sentimental strain ofthis 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, aninstance 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 theCompany'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 ofall the prisoner's actions. On this occasion he thus speaks of MunnyBegum. 

 "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 toyour Lordships' consideration, as a model and pattern of perfection. Observe his pity for a woman who had suffered such treatment from theservants of the Company (a parcel of ruffians!)--treatment that aruffian would be ashamed of! Your Lordships have seen, in the evidence, what this ruffianism was. It was neither more nor less than what wasnecessary in order to get at the accounts, which she concealed, as hisown corrupt transactions. She was told, indeed, that she must privatelyremove to another house whilst her papers were examining. Mr. Hastingscan never forget this. He cannot believe that anybody dare send such anorder; 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. Hastingsand his creatures treated the Begums of Oude, and consider that thiswoman was only threatened (for the threat was never attempted to beexecuted) 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 ofDirectors 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 Ihave described the justice of the country. The only concern he has atparting is, that this woman may have a large allowance. 

But I have yet to tell your Lordships, and it appears upon your printedMinutes, that this woman had a way of comforting herself:--for oldladies of that description, who have passed their youth in amusements, in dancing, and in gallantries, in their old age are apt to take comfortin brandy. This lady was a smuggler, and had influence enough to avoidpayment of the duty on spirits, in which article she is the largestdealer in the district, --as, indeed, she is in almost every species oftrade. 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 aMahometan of distinction never carries on any trade at all, --it is anunknown thing, --very few Mahometans of any rank carry on any trade atall; but that a Mahometan should carry on a trade in spirits is aprodigy never heard of before; for a woman of quality, for a woman ofsentiment, to become a dealer in spirits is, my Lords, a thing reservedfor the sentimental age of Mr. Hastings; and I will venture to say thatno man or woman could attempt any such a trade in India, without beingdishonored, ruined in character, and disgraced by it. But she appearsnot only to have been a dealer in it, but, through the influence whichMr. Hastings gave her, to have monopolized the trade in brandy, and tohave evaded the duties. This, then, is the state in which we leave thetwo sentimental lovers, --the one consoling herself with brandy, theother wheedling and whining; and, as Swift describes the progress of anintrigue in some respects similar, which he calls "The Progress ofLove, " 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 monopolizesthe trade in spirits; and hence she and Mr. Hastings commence theirsentimental correspondence. --And now, having done with this progress oflove, we return to the progress of justice. 

 * * * * *

We have seen how Sudder ul Huk Khân, the chief-justice of Mr. Hastings'sown nomination, was treated. Now you shall see how justice was left toshift for herself under Mahomed Reza Khân. In page 1280 of yourLordships' Minutes you will see the progress of all theseenormities, --of Munny Begum's dealing in spirits, of her engrossing thetrade, of her evading duties, --and, lastly, the extinction of all orderin that country, and the funeral of justice itself. Mr. Shore's evidencerespecting 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, nowGovernor-General of Bengal, one of Mr. Hastings's own committee fordrawing up his defence, the review which he had just then taken of theruins of the government which had been left to him by Mr. Hastings. Yousee here not the little paltry things which might deserve in theircauses the animadversion of a rough satirist like Doctor Swift, whom Ihave just quoted, but you see things ten thousand times more serious, things that deserve the thunderbolt of vindictive justice upon the headof the prisoner at your bar. For you see, that, after he had ostensiblyrestored Mahomed Reza Khân, the man who could and would have executedhis office with fidelity and effect, the man who was fit for anddisposed to do his duty, there was still neither law, order, nor justicein the country. Why? Because of the interposition of Europeans, and menwho must have been patronized and supported by Europeans. All thishappened before Mr. Hastings's departure: so that the whole effect ofthe new arrangement of government was known to him before he leftCalcutta. The same pretended remedy was applied. But in fact he leftthis woman in the full possession of her power. His last thoughts werefor her; for the justice of the country, for the peace and security ofthe people of Bengal, he took no kind of care; these great interestswere left to the mercy of the woman and her European associates. 

My Lords, I have taken some pains in giving you this history. I haveshown you his open acts and secret stratagems, in direct rebellion tothe Court of Directors, --his double government, his false pretences ofrestoring the Nabob's independence, leading in effect to a most serviledependence, even to the prohibition of the approach of any one, nativeor European, near him, but through the intervention of Sir John D'Oyly. I therefore again repeat it, that Sir John D'Oyly, and the Englishgentlemen who were patronized and countenanced by Mr. Hastings, hadwrought all that havoc in the country before Mr. Hastings left it. 

I have particularly dwelt upon the administration of justice, because Iconsider it as the source of all good, and the maladministration of itas the source of all evil in the country. Your Lordships have heard howit was totally destroyed by Mr. Hastings through Sir John D'Oyly, whowas sent there by him for the purpose of forming a clandestinegovernment of corruption and peculation. This part of our charge speaksfor itself, and I shall dismiss it with a single observation, --that notthe least trace of an account of all these vast sums of money deliveredinto the hands of Sir John D'Oyly for the use of the Nabob appears inany part of the Company's records. The undeniable inferences to be drawnfrom 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 acountry, and the extinction of justice in it, that devastation of thecountry and that extinction of justice have been the result of thatfraudulent peculation. 

I am sure your Lordships will not think that a charge of theannihilation of administrative justice, in which the happiness andprosperity of a great body of nobility, of numerous ancient andrespectable families, and of the inhabitants in general of extensive andpopulous provinces are concerned, can, if it stood single and alone, bea matter of trifling moment. And in favor of whom do all thesesacrifices 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 thisman's abominable conduct; you would not cry out with them, --

 Οὐ νέμεσις, . . . Τοιῇδ' ἀμφὶ γυναικὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἂλγεα πάσχειν. 

For I will fairly say that there are some passions that have theirexcuses; but the passion towards this woman was the passion of avariceand rapacity only, --a passion, indeed, which lasted to the end of hisgovernment, and for which he defied the orders of the Court ofDirectors, rebelled against his masters, and finally subverted thejustice of a great country. 

 * * * * *

My Lords, I have done with this business. I come next to the thirddivision of the natives, those who form the landed interest of thecountry. A few words only will be necessary upon this part of thesubject. The fact is, that Mr. Hastings, at one stroke, put up theproperty of all the nobility and gentry, and of all the freeholders, inshort, the whole landed interest of Bengal, to a public auction, and letit to the highest bidder. I will make no observations upon the nature ofthis measure to your Lordships, who represent so large a part of thedignity, together with so large a part of the landed interest of thiskingdom: though I think, that, even under your Lordships' restrictiveorder, I am entitled so to do; because we have examined some witnessesupon this point, in the revenue charge. Suffice it to say, that it is inevidence before your Lordships that this sale was ordered. Mr. Hastingsdoes 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 badintention. The owners of the land had no way left to save themselves butto become farmers of their own estates; and from the competition whichnaturally took place, (and he himself declared, that the persons, whether owners or strangers, to whom he let the lands, had agreed torents which surpassed their abilities to pay, ) I need not tell you whatmust have been the consequence, when it got into such rapacious hands, and was taken out of the hands of its natural proprietors: that thepublic revenue had sunk and lost by it, and that the country was wastedand destroyed. I leave it to your Lordships' own meditation andreflection; and I shall not press it one step further than just toremind you of what has been so well opened and pressed by my fellowManagers. He, Mr. Hastings, confesses that he let the lands to his ownbanians; he took his own domestic servants and put them in the houses ofthe nobility of the country; and this he did in direct violation of anexpress order made by himself, that no banian of a collector (the spiritof which order implied ten thousand times more strongly the exclusion ofany 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 morethan a lac of rupees; but at the same time we find his banians holdingseveral farms to more than that amount. In short, we find that in everyinstance, where, under some plausible pretence or other, the fixedregulations are violated, it touches him so closely as to make itabsolutely impossible not to suppose that he himself had the advantageof it. 

For, in the first place, you have proof that he does take bribes, andthat he has corrupt dealings. This is what he admits; but he says thathe 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 manguilty of one offence contrary to known law, whenever there is asuspicious case against him of the same nature, the _onus probandi_ thathe is not guilty is turned upon him. Therefore, when I find theregulations broken, --when I find farms given of more than a lac ofrupees, --when I find them given to the Governor-General's own banian, contrary to the principle of the regulation, contrary, I say, in thestrongest way to it, --when I find that he accumulates farms beyond theregulated number, --when I find all these things done, and besides thatthe banian has great balances of account against him, --then, by thepresumption of law, I am bound to believe that all this was done, notfor the servants, but for the master. 

It is possible Mr. Hastings might really be in love with Munny Begum; beit so, --many great men have played the fool for prostitutes, from MarkAntony's days downwards; but no man ever fell in love with his ownbanian. The persons for whom Mr. Hastings was guilty of all this rapineand oppression have neither relations nor kindred whom they own, nordoes any trace of friendship exist among them; they do not live inhabits of intimacy with any one; they are good fellows andbottle-companions. 

 * * * * *

I must now proceed to observe upon another matter which has been statedto your Lordships, --namely, that, as soon as he obtained the majority inthe Council, (that beginning of all evils, that opening of Pandora'sbox, ) by the death of General Clavering and Colonel Monson, the firstthing he did was to appoint a commission, called an _aumeeny_, to gothrough the whole country, to enter every man's house, to examine histitle-deeds, and to demand his papers of accounts of every kind, for thepurpose of enabling himself to take advantage of the hopes and fears ofall the parties concerned, and thus to ravage and destroy all theirproperty. 

And whom does he place at the head of this commission, to be the managerof the whole affair? Gunga Govind Sing, another banian of his, and oneof his own domestic servants. This we have discovered lately, and notwithout 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 androbbers. I did not know till lately that this Gunga Govind Sing was hisdomestic servant; but Mr. Hastings, in a letter to the Court ofDirectors, calls him his faithful domestic servant, and as such callsupon the Company to reward him. To this banian all the Company'sservants are made subject; they are bound to obey all his orders, andthose of his committee. I hope I need not tell your Lordships what sortof stuff this committee was made of, by which Gunga Govind Sing wasenabled to ravage the whole country. 

But, say his counsel, Mr. Hastings thought that the value of the landswas thoroughly known; they had been investigated three times over, andthey were all let by public auction to the highest bidder. --This may ormay not be a true test of their value; but it is a test which, as it ledto 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 andthe 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 thecriminal; but when there are great crimes, then you may hate themtogether. What! am I to love Nero? to fall in love with Heliogabalus? isDomitian to be the subject of my affection? No, we hate the crime, andwe hate the criminal ten times more; and if I use indignant language, ifI use the language of scorn and horror with respect to the criminal, Iuse the language that becomes me. 

But, says one of the counsel, the Company might possess a knowledge ofthe 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, bytheir names, ) that most atrocious and wicked instrument of the mostatrocious and wicked tyranny, to examine every man's papers, to obligeevery man to produce his titles and accounts upon pain of criminalpunishment, to be inflicted at the discretion of this commissioner, thisGunga Govind Sing. For an account of these acts, and for a descriptionof 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 anddetestation at it, and wishing to kindle in your Lordships' minds thesame 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 looseanother set of ravagers and inquisitors upon them, under Gunga GovindSing, and these poor people are ravaged by the whole tribe of Calcuttabanians. 

Mr. Hastings has himself defined an aumeen in page 1022, where he statesthat Nundcomar desired him to make his son an aumeen. "The promise whichhe [Nundcomar] says I made him, that he should be constituted aumeen, that is, inquisitor-general over the whole country, and that I woulddelegate to him my whole power and influence, is something more than anegative falsehood. " He justly and naturally reprobates the propositionof appointing an inquisitor-general over the whole country; and yet wesee him afterwards appointing Gunga Govind Sing such aninquisitor-general over the whole country, in order that a bega of landshould not escape him. 

Let us see how all this ended, and what it is that leads me directly tothe presumption of corruption against him in this wicked _aumeeny_scheme. Now I will admit the whole scheme to have been well intended, Iwill forgive the letting all the lands of Bengal by public auction, Iwill forgive all he has done with regard to his banians, I shall forgivehim even this commission itself, if he will show your Lordships thatthere was the smallest use made of it with regard to the settlement ofthe revenues of the Company. If there was not, then there is obviouslyone use only that could be made of it, namely, to put all the people ofthe whole country under obedience to Gunga Govind Sing. What, then, wasdone? Titles and accounts were exacted; the estimate was made, acre byacre; but we have not been able to find one word on their records of anyreturn that was made to the Company of this investigation, or of anysettlement or assessment of the country founded upon it, or of anyregulation that was established upon it. Therefore, as an honest man, and as a man who is standing here for the Commons of Great Britain, Imust not give way to any idle doubts and ridiculous suppositions. Icannot, I say, entertain any doubts that the only purpose it wasdesigned to answer was to subject the whole landed interest of thecountry to the cruel inquisition of Gunga Govind Sing, and to the cruelpurposes of Mr. Hastings. Show me another purpose and I will give up theargument: for if there are two ways of accounting for the same act, itis possible it may be attributed to the better motive; but when we seethat a bad thing was done under pretence of some good, we must attach abad motive to it, if the pretence be never fulfilled. 

 * * * * *

I have now done with the landed interest of Bengal. I have omitted muchwhich might have been pressed upon your Lordships, not from anyindisposition to remark upon the matter more fully, but because it hasbeen done already by abler persons; I only wished to make some practicalinferences, which, perhaps, in the hurry of my brother Managers, mightpossibly have escaped them; I wished to show you that one system ofknown or justly presumed corruption pervades the whole of this business, from one end to the other. Having thus disposed of the native landedinterest, and the native zemindars or landholders of the country, I passto the English government. 

My Lords, when we have shown plainly the utter extinction of the nativeMahometan government, when we have shown the extinction of the nativelanded interest, what hope can there be for that afflicted country butin the servants of the Company? When we have shown the corrupt state ofthat service, what hope but from the Court of Directors, what hope butin the superintending control of British tribunals? I think as well ofthe body of my countrymen as any man can do. I do not think that any mansent out to India is sent with an ill purpose, or goes out with baddispositions. No: I think the young men who go there are fair andfaithful representatives of the people of the same age, --uncorrupted, but corruptible from their age, as we all are. They are sent thereyoung. There is but one thing held out to them, --"You are going to makeyour fortune. " The Company's service is to be the restoration of decayednoble families; it is to be the renovation of old, and the making of newones. Now, when such a set of young men are sent out with these hopesand views, and with little education, or a very imperfect one, --whenthese 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 ofman was never able to unite, to make their fortune and form theireducation 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. Ifthe Company's servants have not that education, and are left to giveloose to their natural passions, some would be corrupt of course, andsome would be uncorrupt; but probably the majority of them would beinclined to pursue moderate courses between these two. Now I am to showyou that Mr. Hastings left these servants but this alternative: "Bestarved, be depressed, be ruined, disappoint the hopes of your families, or be my slaves, be ready to be subservient to me in every iniquity Ishall order you to commit, and to conceal everything I shall wish you toconceal. " This was the state of the service. Therefore the Commons didwell and wisely, when they sent us here, not to attack this or thatservant who may have peculated, but to punish the man who was sent toreform abuses, and to make Bengal furnish to the world a brilliantexample of British justice. 

I shall now proceed to state briefly the abuses of the Company'sgovernment, --to show you what Mr. Hastings was expected to do for theirreformation, and what he actually did do; I shall then show yourLordships the effects of the whole. 

I shall begin by reading to your Lordships an extract from theDirectors' 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 countryto be. That it was in this state is not denied by Mr. Hastings, who wassent out for the purpose of reforming it. The Directors had swept awayalmost the whole body of their Bengal servants for supposed corruption;and they appointed a set of new ones, to regenerate, as it were, thegovernment 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 toall mankind never to employ a man who has been bred in base and corruptpractices, from any hope that his local knowledge may make him thefittest 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 bredup, 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'sshop, who has lain a month in a pig's stye, as to expect that a man whohas been a contractor with the Company for a length of time is a fitperson for reforming abuses. Mr. Hastings has stated in general hishistory, his merits, and his services. We have looked over with care therecords relative to his proceedings, and we find that in 1760 and 1761he was in possession of a contract for bullocks and a contract forprovisions. It is no way wrong for any man to take a contract, providedhe does not do what Mr. Hastings has condemned in hisregulations, --become a contractor with his masters. But though I do notbear upon Mr. Hastings for having spent his time in being abullock-contractor, yet I say that he ought to have laid aside all thehabits of a bullock-contractor when he was made a great minister for thereformation of a great service full of abuses. I will show yourLordships that he never did so; that, on the contrary, being bred inthose bad habits, and having had the education that I speak of, hepersevered 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 Istated something of the obscurity of Mr. Hastings's birth. Theimputation has no foundation. Can it be believed that any man could beso 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 inwhich he was bred; I said nothing of his birth. But, my Lords, I was agood deal surprised when a friend of his and mine yesterday morning putinto my hands, who had been attacking Mr. Hastings's life and conduct, apedigree. I was appealing to the records of the Company; they answer bysending me to the Herald's Office. Many of your Lordships' pedigreesare obscure in comparison with that of Mr. Hastings; and I only wonderhow he came to derogate from such a line of nobles by becoming acontractor for bullocks. 

A man may be an honest bullock-contractor, (God forbid that many of themin this country should not be very honest!) but I find his terms werenearly four times as high as those which the House of Commons hadcondemned as exorbitant. They were not only unusually high, but thebullocks were badly supplied, and the contract had not been fairlyadvertised. It was therefore agreed to declare the same void at theexpiration of twelve months, on the 1st December, 1763. I say again, that I do not condemn him for being a bullock-contractor; but I amsuspicious of his honesty, because he has been nursed in bad and vicioushabits. That of contracting with his masters is a bad habit, as hehimself has stated in a record which is printed by the House of Commons. I condemn him for being a fraudulent bullock-contractor: for he wasturned out of that contract for fraudulent practices; it was declaredvoid, and given to another at a lower price. After it was so disposedof, Mr. Hastings himself, condemning his own original contract, whichwas at twelve rupees for a certain species of bullocks, took thecontract again at seven; and on these terms it continued. What Itherefore contend for is this, that he carried with him the spirit of afraudulent bullock-contractor through the whole of the Company'sservice, in its greatest and most important parts. 

My Lords, the wading through all these corruptions is an unpleasantemployment for me; but what am I to think of a man who holds up hishead so high, that, when a matter of account is in discussion, such asappears in this very defence that I have in my hand, he declares he doesnot know anything about it? He cannot keep accounts: that is beneathhim. We trace him throughout the whole of his career engaged in a greatvariety of mercantile employments; and yet, when he comes before you, you would imagine that he had been bred in the study of the sublimestsciences, and had no concern in anything else, --that he had been engagedin writing a poem, an Iliad, or some work that might revive fallenliterature. There is but one exception to his abhorrence of accounts: healways contrives to make up a good account for himself. 

My Lords, we have read to you a letter in which the Court of Directorshave described the disorders of their service, the utter ruin of it, thecorruption that prevailed in it, and the destruction of the country byit. When we are said to exaggerate, we use no stronger words than theydo. We cannot mince the matter; your Lordships should not mince it; nolittle paltry delicacies should hinder you, when there is a countryexpiring under all these things, from calling the authors to a strictaccount. The Court of Directors sent him that statement; theyrecommended to him a radical reformation. What does he do? We will readhis letter of 1773, in which you will find seeds sown for thepropagation of all those future abuses which terminated in the utter andirremediable destruction of the whole service. After he has praised theDirectors for the trust that they had placed in him, after expressinghis 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 tothe Court of Directors to do what they ordered him to do, (and he hadpromised to make a radical reform in their whole service, and to curethose abuses which they have stated, ) he declares that he will notexecute them; he pleads a variety of other occupations; but as to thatgreat fundamental grievance he was appointed to eradicate, he declareshe will not even attempt it. "Why did you promise?"--it naturally occursto ask him that question. "Why, " says he, "you will readily perceivethat I must have been sincere in those declarations; since it wouldhave argued great indiscretion to have made them, had I known myinability to perform them. " This is a kind of argument that belongs toMr. Hastings exclusively. Most other people would say, "You may judge ofthe sincerity of my promises by my zeal in the performance"; but hesays, "You may judge of the sincerity of my promises, because I wouldnot promise, if I had not thought I should be able to perform. " It runsin 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 obeythem. " In fact, there is not so much as one grievance or abuse in thecountry, that he reformed. And this was systematical in Mr. Hastings'sconduct, --that he was resolved to connive at the whole of the iniquitiesof the service, because he was resolved that every one of those existinginiquities should be practised by himself. "But, " says he, "thereformation required can produce no real good, and may expose youraffairs to all the ruinous consequences of personal malevolence, bothhere and at home. " This he gives you as a reason why he will notprosecute the inquiry into abuses abroad, --because he is afraid that youshould punish him at home for doing his duty abroad, --that it willexpose him to malevolence at home; and therefore, to avoid being subjectto malevolence at home, he would not do his duty abroad. 

He follows this with something that is perfectly extraordinary: hedesires, instead of doing his duty, which he declares it is impossibleto do, that he may be invested with an arbitrary power. I refer yourLordships to pages 2827, 2828, and 2829 of the printed Minutes, whereyou will find the system of his government to be formed upon aresolution not to use any one legal means of punishing corruption, orfor the prevention of corruption; all that he desires is, to have anabsolute arbitrary power over the servants of the Company. There youwill see that arbitrary power for corrupt purposes over the servants ofthe Company is the foundation of every part of his whole conduct. Remarkwhat he says here, and then judge whether these inferences are to beeluded 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 thejudgment of this great cause, which is the cause of nations. The firstthing 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, --thatdocuments the most authentic and satisfactory, but deficient intechnical form, may be produced against him, --in short, that he may beguilty of the most enormous crimes, --and yet that legal proofs may bewanting. This shows you how seriously you ought to consider, before youreject any proof upon the idea that it is not technical legal proof. Tothis assertion of Mr. Hastings I oppose, however, the opinion of agentleman who sits near his side, Mr. Sumner, which is much moreprobable. 

Mr. Hastings says, that the power of the Council is not effectualagainst the inferior servants, that [it?] is too weak to coerce them. With much more truth Mr. Sumner has said, in his minute, you mighteasily coerce the inferior servants, but that the dread of falling uponpersons in high stations discourages and puts an end to complaint. Iquote the recorded authority of the gentleman near him, as being ofgreat weight in the affairs of the Company, to prove what is infinitelymore probable, the falsehood of Mr. Hastings's assertion, that aninferior servant cannot be coerced, and that they must riot withimpunity in the spoils of the people. 

But we will go to a much more serious part of the business. Afterdesiring arbitrary power in this letter, he desires a perpetuation ofit. And here he has given you a description of a bad Governor, to whichI must call your attention, as your Lordships will find it, in everypart of his proceeding, to be exactly applicable to himself and to hisown 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 _éclat_ 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 tohold his office only for a short time, the consequence would be eitheran avowed disobedience, or, what is worse, extreme falsehood andhypocrisy. Your Lordships know that this man has held his office for along time, and yet his disobedience has been avowed, and his hypocrisyand his falsehood have been discovered, and have been proved to yourLordships in the course of this trial. You see this man has declaredwhat are the principles which should rule the conduct of men whom youhave constituted the guardians of your property, and checks upon themorals and fidelity of others. Mr. Hastings tells you himself directlywhat his duty was; he tells you himself, and he pronounces his owncondemnation, what was expected from him, namely, that he should give agreat example himself, and be a check and guardian of the fidelity ofall that are under him. He declares, at the end of this letter, that avery short continuance in their service would enable him to make afortune up to the height of his desire. He has since thought proper todeclare to you that he is a beggar and undone, notwithstanding all hisirregular resources in that very service. 

I have read this letter to your Lordships, that you may contrast it withthe conduct of the prisoner, as stated by us, and proved by the evidencewe have adduced. We have stated and proved that Mr. Hastings did enterupon a systematic connivance at the peculation of the Company'sservants, that he refused to institute any check whatever for thepurpose of preventing corruption, and that he carried into execution noone measure of government agreeably to the positive and solemnengagements into which he had entered with the Directors. We thereforecharge him, not only with his own corruptions, but with a systematic, premeditated corruption of the whole service, from the time when he wasappointed, in the beginning of the year 1772, down to the year 1785, when he left it. He never attempted to detect any one single abusewhatever; he never endeavored once to put a stop to any corruption inany man, black or white, in any way whatever. And thus he has acted in agovernment of which he himself declares the nature to be such that it isalmost impossible so to detect misconduct as to give legal evidence ofit, though a man should be declared by the cries of the whole people tobe guilty. 

My Lords, he desires an arbitrary power over the Company's servants tobe given to him. God forbid arbitrary power should be given into thehands of any man! At the same time, God forbid, if by power be meant theability to discover, to reach, to check, and to punish subordinatecorruption, that he should not be enabled so to do, and to get at, toprosecute, and punish delinquency by law! But honesty only, and notarbitrary power, is necessary for that purpose. We well know, indeed, that a government requiring arbitrary power has been the situation inwhich this man has attempted to place us. 

We know, also, my Lords, that there are cases in which the act of thedelinquent may be of consequence, while the example of the criminal, from the obscurity of his situation, is of little importance: in othercases, the act of the delinquent may be of no great importance, but theconsequences of the example dreadful. We know that crimes of greatmagnitude, that acts of great tyranny, can but seldom be exercised, andonly by a few persons. They are privileged crimes. They are the dreadfulprerogatives of greatness, and of the highest situations only. But whena Governor-General descends into the muck and filth of peculation andcorruption, when he receives bribes and extorts money, he does acts thatare imitable by everybody. There is not a single man, black or white, from the highest to the lowest, that is possessed in the smallest degreeof momentary authority, that cannot imitate the acts of such aGovernor-General. Consider, then, what the consequences will be, when itis laid down as a principle of the service, that no man is to be calledto account according to the existing laws, and that you must eithergive, as he says, arbitrary power, or suffer your government to bedestroyed. 

We asked Mr. Anderson, whether the covenant of every farmer of therevenue did not forbid him from giving any presents to any persons, ortaking any. He answered, he did not exactly remember, (for the memory ofthis gentleman is very indifferent, though the matter was in his ownparticular province, ) but he thought it did; and he referred us to therecord of it. I cannot get at the record; and therefore you must take itas it stands from Mr. Anderson, without a reference to the record, --thatthe farmers were forbidden to take or give any money to any personwhatever, beyond their engagements. Now, if a Governor-General comes tothat farmer, and says, "You must give a certain sum beyond yourengagements, " he lets him loose to prey upon the landholders andcultivators; and thus a way is prepared for the final desolation of thewhole country, by the malversation of the Governor, and by theconsequent oppressive conduct of the farmers. 

Mr. Hastings being now put over the whole country to regulate it, let ussee what he has done. He says, "Let me have an arbitrary power, and Iwill regulate it. " He assumed arbitrary power, and turned in and outevery servant at his pleasure. But did he by that arbitrary powercorrect any one corruption? Indeed, how could he? He does not say hedid. For when a man gives ill examples in himself, when he cannot set onfoot an inquiry that does not terminate in his own corruption, of coursehe cannot institute any inquiry into the corruption of the otherservants. 

But again, my Lords, the subordinate servant will say, "I cannot rise"(properly here, as Mr. Hastings has well observed) "to the height ofgreatness, power, distinction, rank, or honor in the government; but Ican 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 theGovernor-General is actuated by no other views, --when he himself, as afarmer, is confidently assured of the corruptions of his superior, --whenhe knows it to be laid down as a principle by the Governor-General, thatno corruption is to be inquired into, and that, if it be not expresslylaid down, yet that his conduct is such as to make it the same as if hehad actually so laid it down, --then, I say, every part of the service isinstantly and totally corrupted. 

 * * * * *

I shall next refer your Lordships to the article of contracts. Fivecontracts have been laid before you, the extravagant and corrupt profitsof which have been proved to amount to 500, 000_l. _ We have shown you, bythe strongest presumptive evidence, that these contracts were given forthe purpose of corrupting the Company's servants in India, and ofcorrupting the Company itself in England. You will recollect that40, 000_l. _ was given in one morning for a contract which the contractorwas never to execute: I speak of Mr. Sulivan's contract. You will alsorecollect that he was the son of the principal person in the Indiandirection, and who, in or out of office, was known to govern it, and tobe supported by the whole Indian interest of Mr. Hastings. You have seenthe corruption of Sir Eyre Coote, in giving to Mr. Croftes the bullockcontract. You have seen the bullock contracts stated to Mr. Hastings'sface, and not denied, to have been made for concealing a number ofcorrupt interests. You have seen Mr. Auriol's contract, given to thesecretary of the Company by Mr. Hastings in order that he might have thewhole records and registers of the Company under his control. You haveseen that the contract and commission for the purchase of stores andprovisions, an enormous job, was given to Mr. Belli, an obscure man, forwhom Mr. Hastings offers himself as security, under circumstances thatwent to prove that Mr. Belli held this commission for Mr. Hastings. These, my Lords, are things that cannot be slurred over. TheGovernor-General is corrupt; he corrupts all about him; he does it uponsystem; he will make no inquiry. 

My Lords, I have stated the amount of the sums which he has squanderedaway in these contracts; but you will observe that we have broughtforward but five of them. Good God! when you consider the magnitude andmultiplicity of the Company's dealings, judge you what must be theenormous mass of that corruption of which he has been the cause, and inthe profits of which he has partaken. When your Lordships shall haveconsidered 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 usthe cause of all his corruption, to throw back the charge by yourdecision, and hurl it with indignation upon himself. 

But there is another shameless and most iniquitous circumstance, which Ihave forgotten to mention, respecting these contracts. He not onlyconsidered them as means of present power, and therefore protected hisfavorites without the least inquiry into their conduct, and withflagrant suspicion of a corrupt participation in their delinquency, buthe goes still farther: he declares, that, if he should be removed fromhis government, he will give them a lease in these exorbitant profits, for the purpose of securing a corrupt party to support and bear him outby their evidence, upon the event of any inquiry into his conduct, --togive him a _razinama_, to give him a flourishing character, whenever heshould come upon his trial. Hear what his principles are; hear what theman 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 thename of oppression, that the person who should succeed him would takeaway 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 meansof redress. "

The document which I am now going to read to your Lordships contains adeclaration by Mr. Hastings of another mean which he used of corruptingthe 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 theexpress purpose of enabling him to secure himself a corrupt influence inEngland. But there is another point much more material, which brings thematter directly home to this court, and puts it to you either to punishhim or to declare yourselves to be accomplices in the corruption of thewhole service. Hear what the man himself says. I am first to mention toyour Lordships the occasion upon which the passage which I shall read toyou was written. It was when he was making his enormous and shamefulestablishment of a Revenue Board, in the year 1781, --of which I shallsay a few words hereafter, as being a gross abuse in itself: he thenfelt that the world would be so much shocked at the enormous prodigalityand corrupt profusion of what he was doing, that he at last spoke outplainly. 

 _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 avowsto be one of the principles of his government, and to be the principleof the last of his acts, is worse than war, pestilence, and famine, --andthat all these calamities together might not be so effectual as thispatronage in wasting and destroying the country. And at what time doeshe tell you this? He tells it you when he himself had just wantonlydestroyed an old regular establishment for the purpose of creating a newone, in which he says he was under the necessity of pensioning themembers of the old establishment from motives of mere humanity. He hereconfesses himself to be the author of the whole mischief. "I could, "says he, "have acted better; I might have avoided desolating the countryby peculation; but, " says he, "I had sons of the first families in thekingdom of Great Britain, every one aspiring to the rapid acquisition oflacs, and this would not suffer me to do my duty. " I hope your Lordshipswill stigmatize the falsehood of this assertion. Consider, my Lords, what he has said, --two hundred and fifty men at once, and insuccession, aspiring to come home in the prime of their youth with_lacs_. You cannot take _lacs_ to be less than two; we cannot make aplural less than two. Two lacs make 20, 000_l. _ Then multiply that, by252, and you will find more than 2, 500, 000_l. _ to be provided for thatset of gentlemen, and for the claims of patronage. Undoubtedly such apatronage is worse than the most dreadful calamities of war, and all theother causes which lead to decline of dominion. 

My Lords, I beseech you to consider this plan of corrupting theCompany's servants, beginning with systematical corruption, and endingwith an avowed declaration that he will persist in this iniquitousproceeding, and to the utmost of his power entail it upon the Company, for the purpose of securing his accomplices against all the consequencesof any change in the Company's government. "I dare not, " says he, "behonest: if I make their fortunes, you will judge favorably of me; if Ido not make their fortunes, I shall find myself crushed with a load ofreproach and obloquy, from which I cannot escape in any other way thanby bribing the House of Peers. " What a shameful avowal this to be madein the face of the world! Your Lordships' judgment upon this great causewill obliterate it from the memory of man. 

But his apprehension of some change in the Company's government is nothis only pretext for some of these corrupt proceedings; he adverts alsoto the opposition which he had to encounter with his colleagues, asanother circumstance which drove him to adopt others of these scandalousexpediences. Now there was a period when he had no longer to contendwith, 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 disorderswhich had prevailed in the service, and which his hostile majority hadpurposed to reform? No, not one, --notwithstanding the Court of Directorshad supported the majority in all their declarations, and had accusedhim 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 cursedmajority which he deprecates, and which I have heard certain personsconsider as a great calamity, (a calamity indeed it was topatronage, )--as soon, I say, as he was free from this, you would imaginehe had undertaken some great and capital reformation; for all the powerwhich the Company could give was in his hands, --total, absolute, andunconfined. 

I must here remind your Lordships, that the Provincial Councils was anestablishment made by Mr. Hastings. So confident was he in his ownopinion of the expediency of them, that he transmitted to the Court ofDirectors a draught of an act of Parliament to confirm them. By this actit 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 haddeclared in the beginning that he considered them as a sort ofexperiment, but that in the progress he found them answer so perfectlywell that he proposed even an act of Parliament to support them. TheCourt of Directors, knowing the mischiefs that innovation had producedin their service, and the desolations which it had brought on thecountry, commanded him not to take any step for changing them, withouttheir orders. Contrary, however, to his own declarations, contrary tothe sketch of an act of Parliament, which, for aught he knew, thelegislature might then have passed, (I know that it was in contemplationto pass, about that time, several acts for regulating the Company'saffairs, and, for one, I should have been, as I always have been, a gooddeal concerned in whatever tended to fix some kind of permanent andsettled government in Bengal, )--in violation, I say, of his duty, and incontradiction to his own opinion, he at that time, without giving theparties notice, turns out of their employments, situations, and bread, the Provincial Councils. 

And who were the members of those Provincial Councils? They were of highrank in the Company's service; they were not junior servants, boys of aday, but persons who had gone through some probation, who knew somethingof the country, who were conversant in its revenues and in the course ofits business; they were, in short, men of considerable rank in theCompany's service. What did he do with these people? Without any regardto their rank in the service, --no more than he had regarded the rank ofthe nobility of the country, --he sweeps them all, in one day, from theirindependent situations, without reference to the Directors, and turnsthem all into pensioners upon the Company. And for what purpose was thisdone? It was done in order to reduce the Company's servants, who, intheir independent situations, were too great a mass and volume for himto corrupt, to an abject dependence upon his absolute power. It was, that he might tell them, "You have lost your situations; you havenothing but small alimentary pensions, nothing more than a maintenance;and you must depend upon me whether you are to have anything more ornot. " Thus at one stroke a large division of the Company's servants, andone of the highest orders of them, were reduced, for their next bread, to an absolute, submissive dependence upon his will; and the Company wasloaded with the pensions of all these discarded servants. Thus werepersons in an honorable, independent situation, earned by long servicein that country, and who were subject to punishment for their crimes, ifproved against them, all deprived, unheard, of their employments. Youwould imagine that Mr. Hastings had at least charged them withcorruption. No, you will see upon your minutes, that, when he abolishedthe Provincial Councils, he declared at the same time that he found nofault with the persons concerned in them. 

Thus, then, he has got rid, as your Lordships see, of one whole body ofthe Company's servants; he has systematically corrupted the rest, andprovided, as far as lay in his power, for the perpetuation of theircorruption; he has connived at all their delinquencies, and hasdestroyed the independence of all the superior orders of them. 

Now hear what he does with regard to the Council-General itself. Theyhad, by the act that made Mr. Hastings Governor, the management of therevenues vested in them. You have been shown by an honorable and ablefellow Manager of mine, that he took the business of this departmentwholly out of the hand of the Council; that he named a committee forthe management of it, at an enormous expense, --committee made up of hisown creatures and dependants; and that, after destroying the ProvincialCouncils, he brought down the whole management of the revenue toCalcutta. This committee took this important business entirely out ofthe hands of the Council, in which the act had vested it, and thiscommittee he formed without the orders of the Court of Directors, anddirectly contrary to the act, which put the superintendence in the handsof the Council. 

Oh, but he reserved a superintendence over them. --You shall hear whatthe superintendence was; you shall see, feel, smell, touch; it shallenter into every avenue and pore of your soul. It will show you what wasthe real principle of Mr. Hastings's government. We will read to youwhat Sir John Shore says of that institution, and of the only ends andpurposes which it could answer; your Lordships will then see how far hewas justifiable in violating an act of Parliament, and giving out of theCouncil's hands the great trust which the laws of his country had vestedin them. It is part of a paper written in 1785 by Mr. Shore, who wassole acting president of this committee to which all Bengal wasdelivered. He was an old servant of the Company, and he is now at thehead of the government of that country. He was Mr. Hastings's particularfriend, and therefore you cannot doubt either of his being a competentevidence, or that he is a favorable evidence for Mr. Hastings, and thathe would not say one word against the establishment of which he himselfwas at the head, that was not perfectly true, and forced out of him bythe truth of the case. There is not a single part of it that does notpoint 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 hehas substituted in the room of the whole regular order of the service, which he totally subverted. Can we add anything to this picture? Can weheighten it? Can we do anything more than to recommend it to yourLordships' serious consideration?

But before I finally dismiss this part of our charge, I must requestyour Lordships' most earnest attention to the true character of theseatrocious proceedings, as they now stand proved before you, by direct orthe strongest presumptive evidence, upon the Company's records, and byhis own confessions and declarations, and those of his most intimatefriends and avowed agents. 

Your Lordships will recollect, that, previously to the appointment ofMr. Hastings to be the Governor-General, in 1772, the collection of therevenues was committed to a naib dewan, or native collector, under thecontrol of the Supreme Council, --and that Mr. Hastings did at that time, and upon various occasions afterwards, declare it to be his decided andfixed opinion, that nothing would be so detrimental to the interests ofthe Company, and to the happiness and welfare of the inhabitants oftheir provinces, as changes, and more especially sudden changes, in thecollection of their revenues. His opinion was also most strongly andreiteratedly pressed upon him by his masters, the Court of Directors. The first step taken after his appointment was to abolish the office ofnaib dewan, and to send a committee through the provinces, at theexpense of 50, 000_l. _ a year, to make a settlement of rents to be paidby the natives for five years. At the same time he appointed one of theCompany's servants to be the collector in each province, and heabolished the General Board of Revenue, which had been established atMoorshedabad, chiefly for the following reasons: that, by its exercisinga separate control, the members of the Supreme Council at Calcutta wereprevented from acquiring that intimate acquaintance with the revenueswhich was necessary to persons in their station; and because many of thepowers necessary for the collection of the revenues could not bedelegated to a subordinate council. In consideration of these opinions, orders, and declarations, he, in 1773, abolished the office ofcollector, and transferred the management of the revenues to severalcouncils of revenue, called Provincial Councils, and recommended theirperpetual establishment by act of Parliament. In the year 1774, incontradiction of his former opinion respecting the necessity of theSupreme Council possessing all possible means of becoming acquaintedwith the details of the revenue, he again recommended the continuance ofthe Provincial Councils in all their parts. This he again declared to behis deliberate opinion in 1775 and in 1776. 

In the mean time a majority of the Supreme Council, consisting ofmembers who had generally differed in opinion from Mr. Hastings, hadtransmitted their advice to the Court of Directors, recommending somechanges in the system of Provincial Councils. The Directors, in theirreply to this recommendation, did in 1777 order the Supreme Council toform a new plan for the collection of the revenues, and to transmit itto them for their consideration. 

No such plan was transmitted; but in the year 1781, Mr. Hastings havingobtained a majority in the Council, he again changed the whole system, both of collection of the revenue and of the executive administration ofcivil and criminal justice. And who were the persons substituted in theplace of those whom he removed? Names, my Lords, with which you arealready but too well acquainted. At their head stands Munny Begum; thencomes his own domestic, and private bribe-agent, Gunga Govind Sing; thenhis banian, Cantoo Baboo; then that instrument of all evil, Debi Sing;then the whole tribe of his dependants, white and black, whom he madefarmers 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 singleinstant, of the real spirit of these proceedings? Can you doubt of thewhole design having originated and ended in corruption and peculation?

We have fully stated to you, from the authority of these partiesthemselves, the effects and consequences of these proceedings, --namely, the dilapidation of the revenues, and the ruin and desolation of theprovinces. And, my Lords, what else could have been expected or designedby this sweeping subversion of the control of the Company's servantsover the collections of the revenue, and the vesting of it in a blackdewan, but fraud and peculation? What else, I say, was to be expected, in the inextricable turnings and windings of that black mystery ofiniquity, but the concealment of every species of wrong, violence, outrage, and oppression?

Your Lordships, then, have seen that the whole country was put into thehands of Gunga Govind Sing; and when you remember who this Gunga GovindSing was, and how effectually Mr. Hastings had secured him againstdetection, in every part of his malpractices and atrocities, can you fora moment hesitate to believe that the whole project was planned andexecuted for the purpose of putting all Bengal under contribution to Mr. Hastings? But if you are resolved, after all this, to entertain a goodopinion of Mr. Hastings, --if you have taken it into your heads, forreasons best known to yourselves, to imagine that he has some hiddenvirtues, which in the government of Bengal he has not displayed, andwhich, to us of the House of Commons, have not been discernible in anyone single instance, --these virtues may be fit subjects for paragraphsin newspapers, they may be pleaded for him by the partisans of hisIndian _faction_, but your Lordships will do well to remember that it isnot to Mr. Hastings himself that you are trusting, but to Gunga GovindSing. If the Committee were tools in his hands, must not Mr. Hastingshave also been a tool in his hands? If they with whom he daily andhourly had to transact business, and whose office it was to control andrestrain him, were unable so to do, is this control and restraint to beexpected from Mr. Hastings, who was his confidant, and whose corrupttransactions he could at any time discover to the world? My worthycolleague has traced the whole of Mr. Hastings's bribe account, in themost clear and satisfactory manner, to Gunga Govind Sing, --him first, him last, him midst, and without end. If we fail of the conviction ofthe prisoner at your bar, your Lordships will not have acquitted Mr. Hastings merely, but you will confirm all the robberies and rapines ofGunga Govind Sing. You will recognize him as a faithful governor ofIndia. Yes, my Lords, let us rejoice in this man! Let us adopt him asour own! Let our country, let this House, be proud of him! If Mr. Hastings can be acquitted, we must admit Gunga Govind Sing's governmentto be the greatest blessing that ever happened to mankind. But if GungaGovind Sing's government be the greatest curse that ever befellsuffering humanity, as we assert it to have been, there is the man thatplaced him in it; there is his father, his godfather, the first authorand origin of all these evils and, calamities. My Lords, rememberDinagepore; remember the bribe of 40, 000_l. _ which Gunga Govind Singprocured for Mr. Hastings in that province, and the subsequent horror ofthat scene. 

But, my Lords, do you extend your confidence to Gunga Govind Sing? Noteven the face of this man, to whom the revenues of the Company, togetherwith the estates, fortunes, reputations, and lives of the inhabitants ofthat country were delivered over, is known in those provinces. Heresides at Calcutta, and is represented by a variety of under-agents. Doyou know Govind Ghose? Do you know Nundulol? Do you know the whole tribeof peculators, whom Mr. Hastings calls his faithful domestic servants?Do you know all the persons that Gunga Govind Sing must employ in thevarious ramifications of the revenues throughout all the provinces? Areyou prepared to trust all these? The Board of Revenue has confessed thatit could not control them. Mr. Hastings himself could not control them. The establishment of this system was like Sin's opening the gates ofHell: like her, he could open the gate, --but to shut, as Milton says, exceeded his power. The former establishments, if defective, or ifabuses were found in them, might have been corrected. There was at leastthe means of detecting and punishing abuse. But Mr. Hastings destroyedthe means of doing either, by putting the whole country into the handsof Gunga Govind Sing. 

Now, having seen all these things done, look to the account. YourLordships will now be pleased to look at this business as a mere accountof revenue. You will find, on comparing the three years in which Mr. Hastings was in the minority with the three years after the appointmentof this Committee, that the assessment upon the country increased, butthat the revenue was diminished; and you will also find, which is amatter that ought to astonish you, that the expenses of the collectionswere increased by no less a sum than 500, 000_l. _ You may judge from thiswhat riot there was in rapacity and ravage, both amongst the Europeanand native agents, but chiefly amongst the natives: for Mr. Hastings didnot divide the greatest part of this spoil among the Company's servants, but among this gang of black dependants. These accounts are in pages1273 and 1274 of your Minutes. 

My Lords, weighty indeed would have been the charge brought before yourLordships by the Commons of Great Britain against the prisoner at yourbar, if they had fixed upon no other crime or misdemeanor than thatwhich I am now pressing upon you, --his throwing off the allegiance ofthe Company, his putting a black master over himself, and his subjectingthe whole of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, the whole of the Company'sservants, the Company's revenues, the Company's farms, to Gunga GovindSing. But, my Lords, it is a very curious and remarkable thing, that wehave traced this man as Mr. Hastings's bribe-broker up to the time ofthe nomination of this Committee; we have traced him through a regularseries 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 momentthat this Committee was constituted, it became a gulf in which theprevention, the detection, and the correction of all kind of abuseswere sunk and lost forever. From the time when this Committee and GungaGovind 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 youto look for them? You are to look for them in that 500, 000_l. _ excess ofexpense in the revenue department, and in the rest of all that corrupttraffic of Gunga Govind Sing of which we gave you specimens at the timewe proved his known bribes to you. These are nothing but index-hands topoint out to you the immense mass of corruption which had its origin, and was daily accumulating in these provinces, under the protection ofMr. 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 thosedesolated provinces, upon a country so ravaged, a people sosubdued, --Mahometans, Gentoos, our own countrymen, all trampled underfoot by this tyrant, --can we do this; without giving expression to thosefeelings which, after animating us in this life, will comfort us when wedie, and will form our best part in another?

My Lords, I am now at the last day of my endeavors to inspire yourLordships with a just sense of these unexampled atrocities. I have had agreat encyclopedia of crimes to deal with; I will get through them assoon as I can; and I pray your Lordships to believe, that, if I omitanything, it is to time I sacrifice it, --that it is to want of strengthI sacrifice it, --that it is to necessity, and not from any despair ofmaking, from the records and from the evidence, matter so omitted asblack as anything that I have yet brought before you. 

The next thing of which I have to remind your Lordships respecting theseblack agents of the prisoner is, that we find him, just before hisdeparture from India, recommending three of them, Gunga Govind Sing, Gunga Ghose, and Nundulol, as persons fit and necessary to be rewardedfor their services by the Company. Now your Lordships will find, that, of these faithful domestic servants, there is not one of them who wasnot concerned in these enormous briberies, and in betraying their ownnative and natural master. If I had time for it, I believe I could traceevery person to be, in proportion to Mr. Hastings's confidence in him, the author of some great villany. These persons he thinks had not beensufficiently rewarded, and accordingly he recommends to the board, ashis dying legacy, provision for these faithful attached servants of his, and particularly for Gunga Govind Sing. The manner in which this man wasto be rewarded makes a part of the history of these transactions, ascurious, perhaps, as was ever exhibited to the world. Your Lordshipswill 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. Hastingsfor leave to grant a very considerable part of his estate to GungaGovind Sing, as a reward for his services. These services could only beknown 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 littlesatisfied with this bountiful and liberal donation to Gunga GovindSing, that they desire that several purgunnahs, or farms, that arementioned in the application made to the Council, should be separatedfrom the family estate and given to this man. Such was thisextraordinary gratitude: gratitude, not for money received, but formoney taken away, --a species of gratitude unknown in any part of theworld but in India; gratitude pervading every branch of the family; hismother coming forward and petitioning likewise that her son should bedisinherited; his uncle, the natural protector and guardian of hisminority, coming forward and petitioning most earnestly that his nephewshould be disinherited: all the family join in one voice of supplicationto Mr. Hastings, that Gunga Govind Sing may have a very large andconsiderable 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, butwhich your Lordships, upon examination, will find to be false, andfalsified in every particular, recommends, in the strongest manner, tothe board, a compliance with this application. He was at this time onthe eve of his departure from India, in haste to provide for hisfaithful servants; and he well knew that this his last act would be heldbinding upon his successors, who were devoted to him. 

Here, indeed, is genuine and heroic gratitude, --gratitude for moneyreceived, not for money taken away; and yet this gratitude was towards aperson 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 forhimself 20, 000_l. _ out of 40, 000_l. _ taken from the Rajah. For thischeat, stated by Mr. Larkins to be such, and allowed by Mr. Hastingshimself to be such, he, with a perfect knowledge of that fraud and cheatcommitted upon the public, (for he pretends that the money was meant forthe Company, ) makes this supplication to his colleagues, and departs. 

After his departure, Gunga Govind Sing, relying upon the continuance ofthe corrupt influence which he had gained, had the impudence to comeforward and demand the confirmation of this grant by theCouncil-General. The Council, though willing to accede to Mr. Hastings'sproposition, were stopped in a moment by petitions much more natural, but of a direct contrary tenor. The poor infant Rajah raises his criesnot to be deprived of his inheritance; his mother comes forward andconjures the Council not to oppress her son and wrong her family; theuncle comes and supplicates the board to save from ruin these devotedvictims which were under his protection. All these counter-petitionscome before the Council while the ink is hardly dry upon the petitionswhich Mr. Hastings had left behind him, as proofs of the desire of thisfamily to be disinherited in favor of Gunga Govind Sing. Upon thereceipt of these remonstrances, the board could not proceed in thebusiness, and accordingly Gunga Govind Sing was defeated. 

But Gunga Govind Sing was unwilling to quit his prey. And what does hedo? I desire your Lordships to consider seriously the reply of GungaGovind Sing, as it appears upon your minutes. It is a bold answer. Hedenies the right of the Rajah to these estates. "Why, " says he, "allproperty in this country depends upon the will of your government. Howcame 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 aniniquitous transaction. This is a family that in some former age hasrobbed others; and now let me rob them. " In support of this claim, headds the existence of other precedents, namely, "that many clerks ormutsuddies and banians at Calcutta had, " as he says, "got possession ofthe lands of other people without any pretence of right;--why should notI?" Good God! what precedents are these!

Your Lordships shall now hear the razinama, or testimonial, which, sinceMr. Hastings's arrival in England, this Rajah has been induced to sendto the Company from India, and you will judge then of the state in whichMr. Hastings has left that country. Hearken, my Lords, I pray you, tothe razinama of this man, from whom 40, 000_l. _ was taken by Mr. Hastingsand Gunga Govind Sing, and against whom an attempt was made by the samepersons to deprive him of his inheritance. Listen to this razinama, andthen judge of all the other testimonials which have been produced on thepart of the prisoner at your bar. His counsel rest upon them, they gloryin them, and we shall not abate them one of these precious testimonials. They put the voice of grateful India against the voice of ungratefulEngland. Now hear what grateful India says, after our having told youfor 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 robbedhim of 40, 000_l. _, and then had attempted to snatch, as it were, out ofthe mouths of babes and sucklings the inheritance of their fathers, andto deprive this infant of a great part of his family estate? Here is achild, eleven years old, who never could have seen Mr. Hastings, whocould know nothing of him but from the heavy hand of oppression, affliction, wrong, and robbery, brought to bear testimony to the virtuesof Mr. Hastings before a British Parliament! Such is the confidence theyrepose in their hope of having bribed the English nation by the millionsand millions of money, the countless lacs of rupees, poured into it fromIndia, that they had dared to bring this poor robbed infant to beartestimony to the character of Mr. Hastings! These are the things whichare to be opposed to the mass of evidence which the House of Commonsbring against this man, --evidence which they bring from his own acts, his own writing, and his own records, --a cloud of testimony furnished byhimself in support of charges brought forward and urged by us agreeablyto the magnitude of his crimes, with the horror which is inspired bythem, and with the contempt due to this paltry attempt towards hisdefence, which they had dared to produce from the hands of an infant buteleven 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 reëstablished justice and impartiality. We were during his government in the enjoyment of perfect happiness and ease, and many of us are thankful and satisfied. As Mr. Hastings was well acquainted with our manners and customs, he was always desirous in every respect of doing whatever would preserve our religious rites, and guard them against every kind of accident and injury, and at all times protected us. Whatever we have experienced from him, and whatever happened from him, we have written without deceit or exaggeration. "

My Lords, before I take leave of this affair of bribes and of the greatbribe-broker, let me just offer a remark to your Lordships upon onecurious transaction. My Lords, we have charged a bribe taken from theNabob of Oude, and we have stated the corrupt and scandalous proceedingwhich attended it. I thought I had done with Oude; but as there is agolden chain between all the virtues, so there is a golden chain whichlinks together all the vices. Mr. Hastings, as you have seen, and as myhonorable colleague has fully opened it to you, received a bribe orcorrupt present from the Nabob of Oude in September, 1781. We heard nomore of this bribe than what we had stated, (no other trace of it everappearing in the Company's records, except in a private letter writtenby Mr. Hastings to the Court of Directors, and afterwards in acommunication such as you have heard through Mr. Larkins, ) till October, 1783. 

But, my Lords, we have since discovered, through and in consequence ofthe violent disputes which took place between Mr. Hastings and the clanof 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, wediscovered that Mr. Middleton had received the offer of a present of100, 000_l. _ in February, 1782. This circumstance is mentioned in aletter of Mr. Middleton's, in which he informs Mr. Hastings that theNabob had destined such a sum for him. 

Now the first thing that will occur to your Lordships upon such anaffair will be a desire to know what it was that induced the Nabob tomake this offer. It was but in the September preceding that Mr. Hastingshad received, for his private use, as the Nabob conceived, so bountifula present as 100, 000_l. _; what motive, then, could he have had inFebruary to offer him another 100, 000_l. _? This man, at the time, waspiercing heaven itself with the cries of despondency, despair, beggary, and ruin. You have seen that he was forced to rob his own family, inorder to satisfy the Company's demands upon him; and yet this isprecisely 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, andsay, "What! another 100, 000_l. _ to Mr. Hastings?" What reason had theNabob to think Mr. Hastings so monstrously insatiable, that, having butthe September before received 100, 000_l. _, he must give him another inFebruary? My Lords, he must, in the interval, have threatened the Nabobwith some horrible catastrophe, from which he was to redeem himself bythis second present. You can assign no other motive for his giving it. We know not what answer Mr. Hastings made to Mr. Middleton upon thatoccasion, but we find that in the year 1783 Mr. Hastings asserts that hesent up Major Palmer and Major Davy to persuade the Nabob to transferthis present, which the Nabob intended for him, to the Company'sservice. Remark, my Lords, the progress of this affair. In a formalaccusation preferred against Mr. Middleton, he charges him withobstructing this design of his. In this accusation, my Lords, you findhim 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 thearticles of his impeachment; it is the third charge; it is in page 1267of your Lordships' Minutes. 

 "For sending repeatedly to the Vizier, and to his minister, Hyder Beg Khân, 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 theaccuser'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 inthe charge or possession of Mr. Middleton, before Major Palmer'sarrival, and left with Mr. Johnson on Mr. Middleton's departure. "

My Lords, here is an accusation that Mr. Middleton had actually receivedmoney, either in bills or assets of some kind or other, --and that, uponquitting his Residency, he had handed it over to his successor, Mr. Johnson. Here are, then, facts asserted, and we must supposesubstantiated. Here is a sum of money to be accounted for, in whichthere is a gross malversation directly charged as to these particulars, in Mr. Hastings's opinion. Mr. Macpherson, another member of theCouncil, has declared, that he understood at the time that the ten lacswere actually deposited in bills, and that it was not a mere offer madeby 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 ofanything; 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 inhis hands?" He does no such thing; he passes over it totally, as if itwere 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'sservice?" he boldly steps forward, and says, "I prevented it from beingso applied. It never was, it never ought to have been, so applied; suchan appropriation of money to be taken from the Nabob would have beenenormous upon that occasion. "

What, then, does Mr. Hastings do? Does he examine Mr. Middleton upon thesubject, 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 himto explain for what purpose he left the money with Mr. Johnson. He didno such thing. Did he examine Mr. Johnson himself, who was charged withhaving received the money from Mr. Middleton? Did he ask him what he haddone with that money? Not one word. Did he send for Major Palmer andMajor 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 personin the management of the revenue? No, not one. Directly in the face ofhis own assertions, directly contrary to his moral conviction of thefact that the money had been actually deposited, he tries Mr. Johnsoncollusively and obliquely, not upon the account of what was done withthe money, but why it was prevented from being applied to the Company'sservice; and he acquits him in a manner that (taking the whole of ittogether) will give your Lordships the finest idea possible of a Bengaljudicature, as exercised by Mr. Hastings. 

"I am not sorry, " says he, "that Mr. Johnson chose to defeat myintentions; since it would have added to the Nabob's distresses, butwith no immediate relief to the Company. If, in his own breast, he canview the secret motives of this transaction, and on their testimonyapprove 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 beenreceived, but was prevented from being applied to its destination by theperson accused; and he acquits him. Does he acquit him from his ownknowledge, or from any evidence? No: but he applies to the man'sconscience, and says, "If you in your conscience can acquit yourself, Iacquit you. "

Here, then, is a proceeding the most astonishing and shameless thatperhaps was ever witnessed: a court trying a man for a delinquency andmisapplication of money, destined, in the first instance, for the use ofthe judge, but which he declares ought, in his own opinion, to be setapart for the public use, and which he was desirous of applying to theCompany's service, without regard to his own interest, and then thejudge declaring he is not sorry that his purpose had been defeated bythe party accused. Instead, however, of censuring the accused, heapplies to the man's own conscience. "Does your conscience, " says he, "acquit you of having acted wrong?" The accused makes no reply; and thenMr. Hastings, by an hypothetical conclusion, acquits him. 

Mr. Hastings is accused by the Commons for that, having a moralcertainty of the money's being intended for his use, he would not haveceased to inquire into the actual application of it but from somecorrupt motive and intention. With this he is charged. He comes beforeyou 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 theother day in this court, to account for it? Why did he not, when he sentfor these curious papers and testimonials to Major Palmer, (the personauthorized, as he pretends, by him, to resign all his pretensions to themoney procured, ) send for Major Palmer, who is the person that accusedhim in this business, --why not send for him to bear some testimonyrespecting it? No: he had time enough, but at no one time and in noplace did he do this; therefore the imputation of the foulest corruptionattaches 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 thecircumstances, as far as we are acquainted with them, of this fraudulenttransaction, we have only further to remind you, that, though Mr. Middleton was declared guilty of five of the six charges brought againsthim 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 withhim had been ten times worse, he directly appoints him to one of themost honorable and confidential offices the Company had to dispose of:he sends him ambassador to the Nizam, --to give to all the courts ofIndia a specimen of the justice, honor, and decency of the Britishgovernment. 

My Lords, with regard to the bribe for the _entertainment_, I only begleave to make one observation to you upon that article. I could say, ifthe time would admit it, a great deal upon that subject; but I wish tocompress it, and I shall therefore only recommend it in general to yourLordships' deliberate consideration. The covenant subsisting between theCompany and its servants was made for the express purpose of putting anend to all such entertainments. By this convention it is ordered that nopresents exceeding 200_l. _ [400_l. _?] shall be accepted upon anypretence for an entertainment. The covenant was intended to put an endto the custom of receiving money for entertainments, even when visitingan independent Oriental prince. But your Lordships know that the Nabobwas no prince, but a poor, miserable, undone dependant upon, theCompany. The present was also taken by Mr. Hastings at a time when hewent upon the cruel commission of cutting down the Nabob's allowancefrom 400, 000_l. _ to 260, 000_l. _ [160, 000_l. _?], and when he was reducingto beggary thousands of persons who were dependent for bread upon theNabob, and ruining, perhaps, forty thousand others. I shall say no moreupon that subject, though, in truth, it is a thing upon which muchobservation might be made. 

 * * * * *

I shall now pass on to another article connected with, though not makinga direct part of, that of corrupt bribery: I mean the swindlingsubterfuges by which he has attempted to justify his corrupt practices. At one time, he defends them by pleading the necessities of his ownaffairs, --as when he takes presents and entertainments avowedly for hisown profits. At another time he defends them by pleading the goodness ofhis 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 awfulor of a more abandoned character, or of both. In the settlement of hispublic account, before he left India, he takes credit for a bond whichhe 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 bondto the Company? No. He says, "I will account to the Company for thismoney. " And when he comes to give this account of the expenditure ofthis money, your Lordships will not be a little astonished at the itemsof it. One is for founding a Mahometan college. It is a very strangething that Rajah Nobkissin, who is a Gentoo, should be employed by Mr. Hastings to found a Mahometan college. We will allow Mr. Hastings, whois 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 bycharitable foundations. Nay, we will suppose Mr. Hastings to have takenit into his head to turn Mahometan, (Gentoo he could not, ) and to havedesigned by a Mahometan foundation to expiate his offences. Be it so;but why should Nobkissin pay for it? We will pass over this also. Butwhen your Lordships shall hear of what nature that foundation was, Ibelieve you will allow that a more extraordinary history never didappear 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 tohim by a considerable number of Mussulmen, in compliance with which thisMahometan college appears to have been founded. It next appears from hisstatement, that in the April following, (that is, within about sixmonths after the foundation, ) many students had finished theireducation. You see what a hot-bed bribery and corruption is. Ouruniversities cannot furnish an education in six years: in India theyhave completed it within six months, and have taken their degrees. 

Mr. Hastings says, "I have supported this establishment to this time atmy own expense; I desire the Company will now defray the charge of it. "He then calculates what the expenses were; he calculates that thebuilding would cost about 6, 000_l. _, and he gets from the Company a bondto raise money for paying this 6, 000_l. _ You apparently have thebuilding now at the public expense, and Mr. Hastings still standscharged with the expense of the college for six months. He then proposesthat a tract of land should be given for the college, to the value ofabout three thousand odd pounds a year, --and that in the mean time thereshould be a certain sum allotted for its expenses. After this Mr. Hastings writes a letter from the Ganges to the Company, in which hesays not a word about the expense of the building, but says that thecollege was founded and maintained at his own expense, though it wasthought to be maintained by the Company; and he fixes the commencementof the expense in September, 1779. But, after all, we find that the veryprofessor who was to be settled there never so much as arrived inCalcutta, or showed his face there, till some time afterwards. And lookat Mr. Larkins's private accounts, and you will find that he charges theexpense to have commenced not until October, 1781. It is no error, because it runs through and is so accounted in the whole: and it thusappears that he has charged, falsely and fraudulently, a year more forthat establishment than it cost him. 

At last, then, when he was coming away, (for I hasten to the conclusionof an affair ludicrous indeed in some respects, but not unworthy of yourLordships' consideration, ) "after remarking that he had experienced forthree years the utility of this institution, he recommends that theywill establish a fund for 3, 000_l. _ a year for it, and give it to themaster. " He had left Gunga Govind Sing as a Gentoo legacy, and he nowleaves the Mussulman as a Mahometan legacy to the Company. 

Your Lordships shall now hear what was the upshot of the whole. TheCompany soon afterwards hearing that this college was become thegreatest nuisance in Calcutta, and that it had raised the cries of allthe inhabitants against it, one of their servants, a Mr. Chapman, wasdeputed by the Governor, Sir John Shore, to examine into it, and yourLordships will find the account he gives of it in your minutes. Inshort, my Lords, we find that this was a seminary of robbers, housebreakers, and every nuisance to society; so that the Company wasobliged to turn out the master, and to remodel the whole. Your Lordshipswill now judge of the merits and value of this, one of the sets-offbrought forward by the prisoner against the charges which we havebrought forward against him: it began in injustice and peculation, andended 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, EarlCornwallis, of the state in which he found the country left by hispredecessor, Mr. Hastings, the prisoner at your bar. But, patient as Iknow your Lordships to be, I also know that your strength is notinexhaustible; and though what I have farther to add will not consumemuch of your Lordships' time, yet I conceive that there is a necessityfor 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 yourLordships for appearing before you one day more, if I were inclined tomeasure this business either by the standard of my own ability, or by myown impatience, or by any supposed impatience of yours. I know nomeasure, in such a case, but the nature of the subject, and the dutywhich we owe to it. You will therefore, my Lords, permit me, in a fewwords, to lead you back to what we did yesterday, that you may thebetter comprehend the manner in which I mean to conclude the businessto-day. 

My Lords, we took the liberty of stating to you the condition of Bengalbefore our taking possession of it, and of the several classes of itsinhabitants. We first brought before you the Mahometan inhabitants, whohad the judicial authority of the country in their hands; and we provedto you the utter ruin of that body of people, and with them of thejustice of the country, by their being, both one and the other, sold toan infamous woman called Munny Begum. We next showed you, that the wholelanded interest, the zemindars, or Hindoo gentry of the country, waslikewise ruined by its being given over, by letting it on a five years'lease, to infamous farmers, and giving it up to their mercilessexactions, --and afterwards by subjecting the rank of those zemindars, their title-deeds, and all their pecuniary affairs, to the minutestscrutiny, under pain of criminal punishment, by a commission granted toa nefarious villain called Gunga Govind Sing. We lastly showed you thatthe remaining third class, that of the English, was partly corrupted, orhad its authority dissolved, and that the whole superintending Englishcontrol was subverted or subdued, --that the products of the country werediminished, and that the revenues of the Company were dilapidated, by anovercharge of expenses, in four years, to the amount of 500, 000_l. _, inconsequence of these corrupt, dangerous, and mischievous projects. 

We have farther stated, that the Company's servants were corrupted bycontracts and jobs; we proved that those that were not so corrupted wereremoved from their stations or reduced to a state of abject dependence;we showed you the destruction of the Provincial Councils, thedestruction of the Council-General, and the formation of a committee forno other ends whatever but for the purposes of bribery, concealment, andcorruption. We next stated some of the most monstrous instances of thatbribery; and though we were of opinion that in none of them anysatisfactory defence worth mentioning had been made, yet we have thoughtthat this should not hinder us from recalling to your Lordships'recollection the peculiar nature and circumstances of one of thoseproceedings. 

The proceedings to which we wish to call your attention are thosebelonging to the second bribe given by the Nabob of Oude to Mr. Hastings. Mr. Hastings's own knowledge and opinion that that money wasset 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 mannerin which the fraudulent impeachment of Mr. Middleton, for the purpose ofstifling an inquiry into that business, was carried on. Your Lordshipswill remember that I proved to you, upon the face of that proceeding, the collusive nature of the accusation, and that the real state of thecase was not charged, --and that Mr. Hastings acquitted the party accusedof one article of the charge, not upon the evidence of the case, contrary to his own avowed, declared, moral certainty of his guilt, butupon a pretended appeal to the conscience of the man accused. He didnot, however, give him a complete, formal, official acquittal, butreferred the matter to the Court of Directors, who could not possiblyknow anything of the matter, without one article of evidence whateverproduced at the time or transmitted. We lastly proved to you, that, after finding him guilty of five charges, and leaving the other to theCourt of Directors, Mr. Hastings, without any reason assigned, appointedhim to a great office in the Company's service. 

These proceedings were brought before you for two purposes: first, toshow the corrupt principle of the whole proceeding; next, to show themanner in which the Company's servants are treated. They are accused andpersecuted, until they are brought to submit to whatever terms it may bethought proper to impose upon them; they are then formally, indeed, acquitted of the most atrocious crimes charged against them, butvirtually condemned upon some articles, with the scourge hung overthem, --and in some instances rewarded by the greatest, most honorable, and most lucrative situations in the Company's service. My Lords, it ison the same ground of the wicked, pernicious, and ruinous principles ofMr. Hastings's government, that I have charged this with everything thatis chargeable against him, namely, that, if your Lordships should ratifythose principles by your acquittal of him, they become principles ofgovernment, --rejected, indeed, by the Commons, but adopted by thePeerage of Great Britain. 

There is another article which I have just touched, but which I must domore than barely notice, upon account of the evil example of it: I meanthe taking great sums of money, under pretence of an entertainment. YourLordships will recollect, that, when this business was charged againsthim in India, Mr. Hastings neither affirmed nor denied the fact. Confession could not be there extorted from him. He next appeared beforethe House of Commons, and he still evaded a denial or a confession ofit. He lastly appeared before your Lordships, and in his answer to ourcharge he in the same manner evaded either a confession or a denial. Heforced us to employ a great part of a session in endeavoring toestablish what we have at last established, the receipt of the sumsfirst charged, and of seven lacs more, by him. At length the proof couldnot be evaded; and after we had fought through all the difficultieswhich the law could interpose in his defence, and of which he availedhimself with a degree of effrontery that has, I believe, no example inthe world, he confesses, avows, and justifies his conduct. If the customalleged be well founded, and be an honorable and a proper and justpractice, why did he not avow it in every part and progress of ourproceedings here? Why should he have put us to the necessity of wastingso many months in the proof of the fact? And why, after we have provedit, 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 wayof entertainment made only a part, a single article, of the bribescharged by Nundcomar to have been received by Mr. Hastings; and when wefind him confessing, what he could not deny, that single article, andevading all explanation respecting the others, and not giving any reasonwhatever why one was received and the others rejected, your Lordshipswill judge of the strong presumption of his having taken them all, evenif we had given no other proofs of it. We think, however, that we haveproved the whole very satisfactorily. But whether we have or not, theproof of a single present received is sufficient; because the principleto be established respecting these bribes is this, --whether or not aGovernor-General, paying a visit to any of the poor, miserable, dependent creatures called sovereign princes in that country, (men whomMr. Hastings has himself declared to be nothing but phantoms, and thatthey had no one attribute of sovereignty about them, ) whether, I say, hecan consider them to be such sovereign princes as to justify his takingfrom 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 thatwhich the Company meant to exempt from the custom of making presents. Itwas their design to prevent their servants from availing themselves ofthe real dependence of the nominal native powers to extort money fromthem under the pretence of their sovereignty. Such presents, so far frombeing voluntary, were in reality obtained from their weakness, theirhopeless and unprotected condition; and you are to decide whether or notthis custom, which is insisted upon by the prisoner's counsel, withgreat triumph, to be a thing which he could not evade, without breakingthrough all the usages of the country, and violating principlesestablished by the most clear law of India, is to be admitted as hisjustification. 

It was on this very account, namely, the extortion suffered by thesepeople, under the name or pretence of presents, that the Company firstbound their servants by a covenant, which your Lordships shall now hearread. 

 "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 toSir Hector Munro, and to some others, who had received gifts, and grantsof jaghires, and other territorial revenues, that were confirmed by theCompany. But though this confirmation might be justifiable at a timewhen we had no real sovereignty in the country, yet the Company verywisely provided afterwards, that under no pretence whatever should theirservants have the means of extorting from the sovereigns or pretendedsovereigns of the country any of their lands or possessions. Afterwardsit appeared that there existed abuses of a similar nature, andparticularly (as was proved before us in the year 1773, and reported toour House, upon the evidence of Mahomed Reza Khân) the practice offrequently visiting the princes, and of extorting, under pretence ofsuch visits, great sums of money. All their servants, and theGovernor-General particularly, were therefore obliged to enter into thefollowing 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, uponany pretence and under any name whatsoever, any sum above four thousandrupees, --that is to say, any sum above four hundred pounds. Now the sumthat was here received is eighteen thousand pounds sterling, by way of apresent, under the name of an allowance for an entertainment, which isthe precise thing which his covenant was made to prevent. The covenantsuffered him to receive four hundred pounds: if he received more thanthat money, he became a criminal, he had broken his covenant, andforfeited the obligation he had made with his masters. Think withyourselves, my Lords, what you will do, if you acquit the prisoner ofthis charge. You will avow the validity, you will sanction the principleof 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 andpresents, they are safe by their concealment; if they avow them, theyare still safer. They plead the customs of the country, or rather, thecustoms which we have introduced into the country, --customs which havebeen declared to have their foundation in a system of the mostabominable corruption, the most flagitious extortion, the most dreadfuloppression, --those very customs which their covenant is made to abolish. Think where your Lordships are. You have before you a covenant declaringthat he should take under no name whatever (I do not know how wordscould be selected in the English language more expressive) any sum morethan four hundred pounds. He says, "I have taken eighteen thousandpounds. " He makes his counsel declare, and he desires your Lordships toconfirm 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, andact in direct contradiction to it. He does not even pretend to say thatthis money was intended, either inwardly or outwardly, avowedly orcovertly, for the Company's service. He put absolutely into his ownpocket eighteen thousand pounds, besides his salary. 

Consider, my Lords, the consequences of this species of iniquity. If anyservant of the Company, high in station, chooses to make a visit fromCalcutta to Moorshedabad, which Moorshedabad was then the residence ofour principal revenue government, --if he should choose to take anairing for his health, if he has a fancy to make a little voyage forpleasure as far as Moorshedabad, in one of those handsome barges orbudgeros of which you have heard so much in his charge againstNundcomar, he can put twenty thousand pounds into his pocket any day hepleases, in defiance of all our acts of Parliament, covenants, andregulations. 

Do you make your laws, do you make your covenants, for the very purposeof their being evaded? Is this the purpose for which a British tribunalsits here, to furnish a subject for an epigram, or a tale for thelaughter of the world? Believe me, my Lords, the world is not to be thustrifled with. But, my Lords, you will never trifle with your duty. Youhave a gross, horrid piece of corruption before you, --impudentlyconfessed, and more impudently defended. But you will not suffer Mr. Hastings to say, "I have only to go to Moorshedabad, or to order theNabob to meet me half way, and I can set aside and laugh at all yourcovenants and acts of Parliament. " Is this all the force and power ofthe covenant by which you would prevent the servants of the Company fromcommitting acts of fraud and oppression, that they have nothing to dobut to amuse themselves with a tour of pleasure to Moorshedabad in orderto put any sum of money in their pocket that they please?

But they justify themselves by saying, such things have been practisedbefore. No doubt they have; and these covenants were made that theyshould not be practised any more. But your Lordships are desired to say, that the very custom which the covenant is made to destroy, the verygrievance itself, may be pleaded; the abuse shall be admitted todestroy 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 nothalf so abhorrent as the justification is affronting to justice, whilstit tends to vilify and degrade the dignity of the Peerage and thecharacter of the Commons of Great Britain, before the former and againstthe latter of which such a justification is produced in the face of theworld. 

At the same time that we call for your justice upon this man, we beseechyou to remember the severest justice upon him is the tenderest pitytowards the innocent victims of his crimes. Consider what was at thattime the state of the people from whom, in direct defiance of hiscovenant, he took this sum of money. Were they at this time richer, werethey more opulent, was the state of the country more flourishing thanwhen Mr. Sumner, when Mr. Vansittart, in short, than when the long lineof Mr. Hastings's predecessors visited that country? No, they were not. Mr. Hastings at this very time had reduced the Nabob's income from450, 000_l. _ [400, 000_l. _?] sterling a year, exclusive of otherconsiderable domains and revenues, to 160, 000_l. _ He was, indeed, anobject of compassion. His revenues had not only been reduced during hisstate of minority, but they were reduced when he afterwards continued ina 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 forentertainments, the sum of 18, 000_l. _, --perhaps at that time nearly allhe had in the world. 

Look at your minutes, and you will find Mr. Hastings had just beforethis time said that the bread of ten thousand persons, many of them ofhigh rank, depended upon the means possessed by the Nabob for theirsupport, --that his heart was cut and afflicted to see himself obliged toruin and starve so many of the Mahometan nobility, the greatest part ofwhose yet remaining miserable allowances were now taken away. You know, and you will forgive me again remarking, that it is the nature of theeagles and more generous birds of prey to fall upon living, healthyvictims, but that vultures and carrion crows, and birds of that base anddegenerate kind, always prey upon dead or dying carcases. It is uponruined houses, it is upon decayed families, it is upon extinguishednobility, that Mr. Hastings chooses to prey, and to justify his makingthem his prey. 

But again we hear, my Lords, that it is a custom, upon ceremonial andcomplimentary visits, to receive these presents. Do not let us deceiveourselves. Mr. Hastings was there upon no visit either of ceremony orpolitics. He was a member, at that time, of the Committee of Circuit, which went to Moorshedabad for the purpose of establishing a system ofrevenue in the country. He went up upon that business only, as a memberof the Committee of Circuit, for which business he was, like othermembers of the Committee of Circuit, amply paid, in addition to hisemoluments as Governor, which amounted to about 30, 000_l. _ a year. Notsatisfied with those emoluments, and without incurring new known expenseof 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 ofCircuit. In fact, he was on no visit there at all. He was merelyexecuting his duty in the settlement of the revenue, as a member of theCommittee of Circuit. I do not mean to praise the Committee of Circuitin anyway: God forbid I should!--for we know that it was a committee ofrobbers. He was there as one of that committee, which I am pretty welljustified in describing as I have done, because the Court of Directors, together with the Board of Control, did, in the year 1786, declare thatthe five years' settlement (which originated in that committee) was athing 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 whichwe charge the prisoner with peculation, by extorting or receiving largesums of money, upon pretence of visits, or in compensation ofentertainments. I appeal to your Lordships' consciences for a seriousand impartial consideration of our charge. This is a business not to behurried over in the mass, as amongst the acts of a great man, who mayhave his little errors among his great services; no, you cannot, as ajudicial body, huddle all this into a hotchpotch, and decide upon it ina heap. You will have to ask yourselves, --Is this justifiable by hiscovenant? Is this justifiable by law? Is this justifiable, under thecircumstances of the case, by an enlarged discretion? Is it to bejustified under any principles of humanity? Would it be justifiable bylocal customs, if such were applicable to the case in question? and evenif it were, is it a practice fit for an English Governor-General tofollow?

I dwell the longer upon this, because the fact is avowed; the whole isan 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, Ibeg leave to restate it briefly once more for your Lordships'consideration. 

First I wish to leave fixed in your Lordships' minds, what is distinctlyfixed, and shall never go out of ours, that his covenant did not allowhim to take above four hundred pounds as a present, upon any pretencewhatsoever. 

Your Lordships will observe we contend, that, if there was a custom, this covenant puts an end to that custom. It was declared and intendedso to do. The fact is, that, if such custom existed at all, it was acustom applicable only to an ambassador or public minister sent on anecessary complimentary visit to a sovereign prince. We deny, positively, that there is any such general custom. We say, that he neverwas any such minister or that he ever went upon any such complimentaryvisit. We affirm, that, when he took this money, he was doing an act ofquite 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 isgoing to execute a commission, a commission more severe than thoseissued 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 youcall this a complimentary visit? Is this a visit for which a man is tohave great entertainments given him? No, the pretence for taking thismoney is worse than the act itself. When a man is going to execute uponanother such harsh cruelty, when he is going upon a service at which hehimself says his mind must revolt, is that precisely the time when he isto take from his undone host a present, as if he was upon a visit ofcompliment, or about to confer some honor or benefit upon him, --toaugment his revenues, to add to his territories, or to conclude somevaluable treaty with him? Was this a proper time to take at all from anhelpless 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, andat 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 theprisoner at your bar, if it should be sanctioned by your connivance. Fardifferent was the example set him by General Clavering. In page 1269your Lordships will find the most honorable testimony to the uprightnessand fidelity of this meritorious servant of the Company. It runs thus:"Conceiving it to be the intention of the legislature that theGovernor-General and members of the Council should receive no presents, either from the Indian powers or any persons whatever, he [GeneralClavering] has strictly complied, since his arrival here, both with thespirit and the letter of the act of Parliament, and has accordinglyreturned all the presents which have been made to him. " I have dweltthus long upon this subject, not merely upon account of its own corruptcharacter, which has been sufficiently stigmatized by my honorablecolleague, but upon account of the principle that is laid down by theprisoner, in his defence of his conduct, --a principle directly leadingto a continuance of the same iniquitous practice, and subversive ofevery attempt to check or control it. 

I must beg leave to recall your Lordships' attention to another, butsimilar instance of his peculation, another and new mode of takingpresents: I mean, the present which Mr. Hastings took, through GungaGovind Sing, from those farmers of the revenues amongst whom he haddistributed the pillage of the whole country. This scandalous breach ofhis covenant he attempts to justify by the inward intention of his ownmind to apply the money so taken to the public service. Upon this, myLords, I shall only observe, that this plea of an inward intention inhis own mind may, if admitted, justify any evil act whatever of thiskind. You have seen how presents from the Nabob are justified; you haveseen how the taking a sum of money or allowance for entertainment, directly contrary to the covenant, how that is attempted to bejustified; you see in what manner he justifies this last-mentioned actof peculation; and your Lordships will now have to decide upon thevalidity 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 Lordshipsvery seriously to turn your attention. In all the causes of peculationor malversation in office that ever have been tried before this highcourt, or before any lower court of judicature, in all the judicialrecords of modern crimes, or of antiquity, you will not find anything inany degree like it. We have all, in our early education, read theVerrine Orations. We read them not merely to instruct us, as they willdo, in the principles of eloquence, and to acquaint us with the manners, customs, and laws of the ancient Romans, of which they are an abundantrepository, but we may read them from a much higher motive. We may readthem 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 posteritya monument by which it might be seen what course a great public accuserin a great public cause ought to pursue, and, as connected with it, whatcourse judges ought to pursue in deciding upon such a cause. In theseorations you will find almost every instance of rapacity and peculationwhich we charge upon Mr. Hastings. Undoubtedly, many Roman and Englishgovernors have received corrupt gifts and bribes, under variouspretences. But in the cause before your Lordships there is one speciesof disgrace, in the conduct of the party accused, which I defy you tofind in Verres, or in the whole tribe of Roman peculators, in anygovernor-general, proconsul, or viceroy. I desire you to consider it notincluded 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 phœnix, --itmakes 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 lieuof entertainment; it was not money taken from a farmer-general ofrevenue, out of an idea that his profits were unreasonable, and greaterthan 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 privateindividual, --or rather, as has been proved to you by Mr. Larkins, hisown book-keeper, money borrowed, for which he had engaged to give hisbond. That he had actually deposited his bond for this money Mr. Larkinshas proved to you, --and that the bond was carried to Nobkissin's credit, in his account with the government. But Mr. Hastings, when he wascalled upon for the money, withdraws the bond; he will not pay themoney; he refused to pay it upon the applications made to him both inIndia and here at home; and he now comes to your Lordships and says, "Iborrowed this money, I intended to give my bond for it, as has beenproved before you; but I must have it for my own use. " We have heard ofgovernors being everything that is bad and wicked; but a governorputting himself in the situation of a common cheat, of a commonswindler, never was, I believe, heard of since the creation of the worldto 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 waydiffers from one of those base swindling cases that come to be tried andheavily punished in the King's Bench every day. This is neither more norless than a plain, barefaced cheat. 

Now, my Lords, let us see how it is justified. To justify openly anddirectly a cheat, to justify a fraud upon an individual, is reserved forour times. But, good Heavens, what a justification have we here! Oh, myLords, consider into what a state Indian corruption has brought us inthis country, when any person can be found to come to the bar of theHouse of Lords and say, "I did cheat, I did defraud; I did promise, andgave my bond; I have now withdrawn it, but I will account for it to youas to a gang of robbers concerned with me in the transaction. I confessI robbed this man; but I have acted as trustee for the gang. Observewhat I have done for the gang. Come forward, Mr. Auriol, and prove whathandsome budgeros I gave the company: were not they elegantly painted, beautifully gilt, charming and commodious? I made use of them as longas I had occasion; and though they are little worse for wear, and wouldhardly 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 ownpocket. I provided for myself and wore a suit of lace clothes, when Iwas Jew bail for some of this company: it will turn, for it is hardlythe worse for wear, though I appeared two or three times, in differentcharacters, as bail for you on such and such an occasion. I thereforeset off these items against this money which I gained by swindling onyour 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 thewatch to the company, and let them send it to the pawnbroker for what itwill bring. Besides all this, I maintained aide-de-camps for you, andgave them house-rent. " (By the way, my Lords, what sort of aide-de-campswere these? Who made him a military man, and to have such a legion ofaide-de-camps?) "But, " says he, "I paid house-rent for them; that is, inother 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 realspirit of the whole proceeding, and more especially of the last item init. ) "Then, " says he, "I was the gang's schoolmaster, and taught lessonson their account. I founded a Mahometan school. " (Your Lordships havealready heard something of this shameful affair, of this scene ofiniquity, --I think of such iniquity as the world never yet had to blushat. ) "I founded a Mahometan college for your use; and I bore the expenseof it from September, 1780, when I placed a professor there, calledMudjed-o-Din. "--This Mudjed-o-Din was to perfect men, by contract, inall the arts and sciences, in about six months; and the chief purpose ofthe 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 ofjudges, to assist them in their judgments. Such was the college foundedby Mr. Hastings, and he soon afterwards appropriated one of theCompany's estates, (I am speaking of matters of public notoriety, ) worth3, 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 greatfounder, chose a Mahometan rather than a Christian foundation, so thatour religion was not disgraced by such a foundation!

Observe how he charges the expense of the foundation to the Companytwice over. He first makes them set aside an estate of 3, 000_l. _ a yearfor 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 hisdeparture, one of the last acts he did was to desire it should be putinto the hands of Mudjed-o-Din. He afterwards, as you have seen, takescredit to himself with the Company for the expenses relative to thiscollege. 

I must now introduce your Lordships to the last visitation that was madeof this college. It was visited by order of Lord Cornwallis in the year1788, upon the complaints made against it which I have already mentionedto your Lordships, --that it was a sink of filth, vermin, and misery. Mr. Chapman, who was the visitor, and the friend of Mr. Hastings, declaresthat he could not sit in it even for a few minutes; his words are, --"Thewretched, squalid figures that from every part ran out upon me appearedto be more like anything else than students. " In fact, a universaloutcry was raised by the whole city against it, not only as a receptacleof every kind of abuse, not only of filth and excrements which made itstink in the natural nostrils, but of worse filth, which made itinsufferably offensive to the moral nostrils of every inhabitant. Suchis the account given of a college supported at an expense of 3, 000_l. _ ayear, (a handsome foundation for a college, ) and for building which theCompany was charged 5, 000_l. _: though no vouchers of its expenditurewere ever given by Mr. Hastings. But this is not all. When LordCornwallis came to inquire into it, he found that Mudjed-o-Din had sunkthe 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 andscholars, as well as of abandonment to every kind of vicious andlicentious courses; and all this without the shadow of any benefithaving been derived from it. The visitors expressly inquired whetherthere was any good mixed with all this evil; and they found it was allbad and mischievous, from one end to the other. Your Lordships willremark, that the greatest part of this disgusting business must havebeen known to Mr. Hastings when he gave to Mudjed-o-Din the disposal of3, 000_l. _ a year. And now, my Lords, can you vote this money, expendedin 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 privateindividual?

But there still remains behind another more serious matter belonging tothis affair; and I hope you will not think that I am laying too muchstress upon it, when I declare, that, if I were to select from the wholeof his conduct one thing more dishonorable than another to the Britishnation, it would be that which I am now about to mention. I will leaveyour Lordships to judge of the sincerity of this declaration, when youshall have heard read a paper produced by the prisoner in justificationof 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 inthe seat of justice in that country) concerning this college, madeprecisely at the time of this inquisition by Lord Cornwallis into themanagement of it. Your Lordships will see what sort of thingsattestations are from that country: that they are attestations procuredin diametrical contradiction to the certain knowledge of the partyattesting. It is in page 2350 of your Minutes. Indeed, my Lords, theseare pages which, unless they are effaced by your judgment, will rise upin 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 samecharacter, and to the same effect. It comes from Mahomed Reza Khân, who, as your Lordships will remember, had been reduced by Mr. Hastings froma situation of the highest rank and authority, with an income ofsuitable magnitude, to one of comparative insignificance, with a smallsalary annexed. This man is made to disgrace himself, and to abet thedisgrace and injury done to his country, by bearing his testimony to themerits of this very college. 

I hope your Lordships will never lose sight of this aggravatingcircumstance of the prisoner's criminality, --namely, that you never findany wicked, fraudulent, and criminal act, in which you do not find thepersons 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 itsfeelings, whilst I again call upon you to view all this as a mereswindling transaction, in which the prisoner was attempting to defraudthe Company. 

Mr. Hastings has declared, and you will find it upon the Company'srecords, that this institution (which cost the Company not less than40, 000_l. _ in one way or other) did not commence before October in theyear 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, inwhich he makes it to begin in the year 1779, and in which he hastherefore overcharged the expenses of it a whole year. --But Mr. Larkins, who kept this latter account for him, may have been inaccurate. --GoodHeavens! where are we? Mr. Hastings, who was bred an accountant, who wasbred in all sorts of trade and business, declares that he keeps noaccounts. Then comes Mr. Larkins, who keeps an account for him; but hekeeps a false account. Indeed, all the accounts from India, from oneend to another, are nothing but a series of fraud, while Mr. Hastingswas concerned in them. Mr. Larkins, who keeps his private account justas his master kept the public accounts, has swindled from the Company awhole year's expenses of this college. I should not thus repeatedlydwell upon this transaction, but because I wish your Lordships to becautious how you admit such accounts at all to be given in evidence, into the truth of which you cannot penetrate in any regular way. Uponthe face of the two accounts there is a gross fraud. It is no matterwhich is true or false, as it is an account which you are in nosituation to decide upon. I lay down this as a fixed judicial rule, thatno judge ought to receive an account (which, is as serious a part of ajudicial proceeding as can be) the correctness of which he has no meansof ascertaining, but must depend upon the sole word of the accountant. 

Having stated, therefore, the nature of the offence, which differsnothing from a common dog-trot fraud, such as we see amongst the meanestof mankind, your Lordships will be cautious how you admit these, or anyother of his pretended services, to be set off against his crimes. Thesestand on record confessed before you; the former, of which you can formno just estimate, and into which you cannot enter, rest for their truthupon his own assertions, and they all are found, upon the very face ofthem, to carry marks of fraud as well as of wickedness. 

I have only further to observe to your Lordships, that thisMudjed-o-Din, who, under the patronage of Mr. Hastings, was to do allthese wonders, Lord Cornwallis turned out of his office with every markof disgrace, when he attempted to put into some more respectable statethat establishment which Mr. Hastings had made a sink of abuse. 

I here conclude all that I have to say upon this business, trusting thatyour Lordships will feel yourselves more offended, and justice moreinsulted, by the defence than by the criminal acts of the prisoner atyour bar; and that your Lordships will concur with us in thinking, thatto make this unhappy people make these attestations, knowing the directcontrary of every word which they say to be the truth, is a shockingaggravation of his guilt. I say they must know it; for Lord Cornwallistells you it is notorious; and if you think fit to inquire into it, youwill find that it was unusually notorious. 

 * * * * *

My Lords, we have now brought to a conclusion our observations upon theeffects produced by that mass of oppression which we have stated andproved before your Lordships, --namely, its effects upon the revenues, and upon the public servants of the Company. We have shown you howgreatly the former were diminished, and in what manner the latter werereduced to the worst of all bad states, a state of subserviency to thewill of the Governor-General. I have shown your Lordships that in thisstate they were not only rendered incapable of performing their ownduty, but were fitted for the worst of all purposes, coöperation withhim in the perpetration of his criminal acts, and collusion with him inthe concealment of them. I have lastly to speak of these effects as theyregard the general state and welfare of the country. And here yourLordships 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 beforeyou. We stopped our proceedings ten days for the purpose of taking hisevidence. We do not regret this delay. And he has borne the testimonywhich you have heard to the effects of Mr. Hastings's government of acountry once the most fertile and cultivated, of a people the mostindustrious, flourishing, and happy, --that the one was wasted anddesolated, the other reduced to a condition of want and misery, and thatthe zemindars, that is, the nobility and gentry of the country, were sobeggared as not to be able to give even a common decent education totheir children, notwithstanding the foundation of Mr. Hastings'scolleges. You have heard this noble person, who had been an eye-witnessof what he relates, supplicating for their relief, and expressly statingthat most of the complicated miseries, and perhaps the cruelest of theafflictions they endured, arose from the management of the countryhaving been taken out of the hands of its natural rulers, and given upto Mr. Hastings's farmers, namely, the banians of Calcutta. These arethe things that ought to go to your Lordships' hearts. You see a countrywasted and desolated. You see a third of it become a jungle for wildbeasts. You see the other parts oppressed by persons in the form andshape of men, but with all the character and disposition of beasts ofprey. This state of the country is brought before you, and by the mostunexceptionable evidence, --being brought forward through Mr. Hastingshimself. This evidence, whatever opinion you may entertain of theeffrontery or of the impudence of the criminal who has produced it, isof double and treble force. And yet at the very time when LordCornwallis is giving this statement of the country and its inhabitants, at the very time when he is calling for pity upon their condition, arethese people brought forward to bear testimony to the benign andauspicious government of Mr. Hastings, directed, as your Lordships knowit 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 partof my subject, I must call your Lordships' attention to anotherauthority, --to a declaration, strictly speaking, _legal_, of the stateto which our Indian provinces were reduced, and of the oppressions whichthey have suffered, during the government of Mr. Hastings: I speak ofthe act 24 Geo. III. Cap. 25, intituled, "An act for the betterregulation and management of the affairs of the East India Company, andof the British possessions in India, and for establishing a court ofjudicature for the more speedy and effectual trial of persons accused ofoffences committed in the East Indies, " § 39. 

My Lords, here is an act of Parliament; here are regulations enacted inconsequence of an inquiry which had been directed to be made into thegrievances of India, for the redress of them. This act of Parliamentdeclares the existence of oppressions in the country. What oppressionswere they? The oppressions which it suffered by being let out to thefarmers of the Company's revenues. Who was the person that sold theserevenues to the farmers? Warren Hastings. By whom were these oppressionsnotified to the Court of Directors? By Lord Cornwallis. Upon whatoccasion were these letters written by my Lord Cornwallis? They wereanswers to inquiries made by the Court of Directors, and ordered by anact 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 thatinquiry, transmits to the Court of Directors this very information; hegives you this identical state of the country: so that it isconsolidated, 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, norhis Majesty, the sovereign of this country, can shake one word of thisact of Parliament, --can invalidate the truth of its declaration, or theauthority of the persons, men of high honor and character, that madethat inquiry and this report. Your Lordships must repeal this act inorder to acquit Mr. Hastings. 

But Mr. Hastings and his counsel have produced evidence against this actof Parliament, against the order of the Court of Directors by which aninquiry and report were made under that act, against Lord Cornwallis'sreturn to that inquiry; and now, once for all, hear what the miserablewretches are themselves made to say, to invalidate the act ofParliament, to invalidate the authority of the Court of Directors, toinvalidate the evidence of an official return of Lord Cornwallis underthe act. Pray hear what these miserable creatures describe as anelysium, speaking with rapture of their satisfaction, under thegovernment 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 reëstablished 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. 

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My Lords, we spare you the reading of a great number of theseattestations; they are all written in the same style; and it must appearto your Lordships a little extraordinary, that, as they are said to betotally voluntary, as the people are represented to be crowding to makethese testimonials, there should be such an unison in the heart toproduce a language that is so uniform as not to vary so much as in asingle tittle, --that every part of the country, every province, everydistrict, men of every caste and of every religion, should all unite inexpressing their sentiments in the very same words and in the very samephrases. I must fairly say it is a kind of miraculous concurrence, amiraculous gratitude. Mr. Hastings says that gratitude is lost in thispart of the world. There it blooms and flourishes in a way not to bedescribed. In proportion as you hear of the miseries and distresses ofthese very people, in the same proportion do they express their comfortand satisfaction, and that they never knew what a grievance was of anysort. Lord Cornwallis finds them aggrieved, the Court of Directors findthem aggrieved, the Parliament of Great Britain find them aggrieved, andthe court here find them aggrieved; but they never found themselvesaggrieved. Their being turned out of house and home, and having alltheir land given to farmers of revenue for five years to riot in anddespoil them of all they had, is what fills them with rapture. They arethe only people, I believe, upon the face of the earth, that have nocomplaints to make of their government, in any instance whatever. Theirsmust be something superior to the government of angels; for I verilybelieve, that, if one out of the choir of the heavenly angels were sentto govern the earth, such is the nature of man, that many would be founddiscontented with it. But these people have no complaint, they feel nohardships, no sorrow; Mr. Hastings has realized more than the goldenage. I am ashamed for human nature, I am ashamed for our government, Iam ashamed for this court of justice, that these things are broughtbefore 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 itonly remains for me to make a few observations upon what Mr. Hastingshas thought proper to put forward in his defence. Does he meet our casewith anything but these general attestations, upon which I must firstremark, that there is not one single matter of fact touched upon inthem? Your Lordships will observe, and you may hunt them out through thewhole body of your minutes, that you do not find a single fact mentionedin any of them. But there is an abundance of panegyric; and if we weredoing nothing but making satires, as the newspapers charge us withdoing, 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 yourLordships know very well, a direct charge of crime. Merit cannotextinguish crime. For instance, if Lord Howe, to whom this country owesso much as it owes this day for the great and glorious victory whichmakes our hearts glad, and I hope will insure the security of thiscountry, --yet if Lord Howe, I say, was charged with embezzling theKing's stores, or applying them in any manner unbecoming his situation, to any shameful or scandalous purpose, --if he was accused of takingadvantage of his station, to oppress any of the captains of hisships, --if he was stated to have gone into a port of the allies of thiscountry, and to have plundered the inhabitants, to have robbed theirwomen, and broken into the recesses of their apartments, --if he hadcommitted atrocities like these, his glorious victory could not changethe nature and quality of such acts. My Lord Malmesbury has been latelysent to the King of Prussia; we hope and trust that his embassy will besuccessful, and that this country will derive great benefit from hisnegotiations; but if Lord Malmesbury, from any subsidy that was to bepaid to the King of Prussia, was to put 50, 000_l. _ in his own pocket, Ibelieve that his making a good and advantageous treaty with the King ofPrussia 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 adefence 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 themwere light in comparison with the services performed. I say that youcannot 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 beperformed was as clear and undoubted as that of the crimes charged. Iconfess, that, if a man has done great services, it may be somealleviation of lighter faults; but then they ought to be urged assuch, --with modesty, with humility, with confession of the faults, andnot with a proud and insolent defiance. They should not be stated asproofs that he stands justified in the eye of mankind for committingunexampled and enormous crimes. Indeed, humility, suppliant guilt, always makes impression in our bosoms, so that, when we see it beforeus, we always remember that we are all frail men; and nothing but aproud defiance of law and justice can make us forget this for onemoment. I believe the Commons of Great Britain, and I hope the personsthat speak to you, know very well how to allow for the faults andfrailties of mankind equitably. 

Let us now see what are the merits which Mr. Hastings has set up againstthe just vengeance of his country, and against his proved delinquencies. From the language of the prisoner, and of his counsel, you would imaginesome great, known, acknowledged services had been done by him. YourLordships recollect that most of these presumed services have beenconsidered, and we are persuaded justly considered, as in themselvescrimes. He wishes your Lordships to suppose and believe that theseservices were put aside either because we could not prove the factsagainst him or could not make out that they were criminal, andconsequently that your Lordships ought to presume them to have beenmeritorious; and this is one of the grounds upon which he demands to beacquitted of the charges that have been brought forward and provedagainst him. Finding in our proceedings, and recorded upon our journals, an immense mass of criminality with which he is charged, and findingthat we had selected, as we were bound to select, such parts as might bemost conveniently brought before your Lordships, (for to have gonethrough the whole would have been nearly impossible, ) he takes all therest that we have left behind and have not brought here as charges, andconverts them, by a strange metamorphosis, into merits. 

My Lords, we must insist, on the part of the House of Commons, we mustconjure your Lordships, for the honor of a coördinate branch of thelegislature, that, whenever you are called upon to admit what we havecondemned as crimes to be merits, you will at least give us anopportunity of being heard upon the matter, --that you will not sufferMr. Hastings, when attempting to defend himself against our charges, inan indirect and oblique manner to condemn or censure the House ofCommons itself, as having misrepresented to be crimes the acts of ameritorious servant of the public. Mr. Hastings has pleaded a variety ofmerits, and every one of these merits, without the exception of one ofthem, have been either directly censured by the House of Commons, andcensured as a ground for legislative provision, or they remain upon therecords 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 ofthem, we had come, before the year 1782, to forty-five directresolutions upon his conduct. These resolutions were moved by a personto whom this country is under many obligations, and whom we must alwaysmention with honor, whenever we are speaking of high situations in thiscountry, and of great talents to support them, and of long publicservices in the House of Commons: I mean Mr. Dundas, then Lord Advocateof Scotland, and now one of the principal Secretaries of State, and atthe head, and worthily and deservedly at the head, of the East Indiandepartment. 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 youwill not take these things, which we call crimes, to be merits, withouthearing the House of Commons upon the subject-matter of them. I am sureyou 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 theMogul, in consideration of a grant by which the Moguls gave to us thelegal title under which we hold the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, andOrissa, he did stop the payment of that tribute, or acknowledgment, small as it was, --that, though bound by a treaty recognized by theCompany and recognized by the nation, though bound by the very sunnud bywhich he held the very office he was exercising, yet he had broken thetreaty, and refused to pay the stipulated acknowledgment. Where are we, my Lords? Is this merit? Good God Almighty! the greatest blockhead, themost ignorant, miserable wretch, a person without either virtue ortalents, has nothing to do but to order a clerk to strike a pen throughsuch 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 exoneratedyou from the payment of it. I have gained you 250, 000_l. _ a yearforever. Will you not reward a person who did you such a great andimportant service, by conniving a little at his delinquencies?"

But the House of Commons will not allow that this was a great andimportant service; on the contrary, they have declared the act itself tobe censurable. There is our resolution, --Resolution the 7th:--

"That the conduct of the Company and their servants in India to theKing, " (meaning the Mogul king) "and Nudjif Khân, with respect to thetribute payable to the one, and the stipend to the other, and withrespect to the transfer of the provinces of Corah, and Allahabad to theVizier, was contrary to policy and good faith; and that such wise andpracticable measures should be adopted in future as may tend to redeemthe national honor, and recover the confidence and attachment of theprinces of India. "

This act of injustice, against which we have fulminated the thunder ofour resolutions as a heavy crime, as a crime that dishonored the nation, and which measures ought to be taken to redress, this man has theinsolence to bring before your Lordships as a set-off against the crimeswe charge him with. This outrageous defiance of the House of Commons, this outrageous defiance of all the laws of his country, I hope yourLordships will not countenance. You will not let it pass for nothing: onthe contrary, you will consider it as aggravating heavily his crimes. And, above all, you will not suffer him to set off this, which we havedeclared to be injurious to our national honor and credit, and which hehimself does not deny to be a breach of the public faith, against otherbreaches of the public faith with which we charge him, --or to justifyone class of public crimes by proving that he has committed others. 

Your Lordships see that he justifies this crime upon the plea of itsbeing profitable to the Company; but he shall not march off even on thisground with flying colors. My Lords, pray observe in what manner hecalculates these profits. Your Lordships will find that he makes up theaccount of them much in the same manner as he made up the account ofNobkissin's money. There is, indeed, no account which he has everbrought forth that does not carry upon it not only ill faith andnational dishonor, but direct proofs of corruption. When Mr. Hastingsvalues himself upon this shocking and outrageous breach of faith, whichrequired 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 countryand of mankind, no other talents than may be displayed by the dash of apen, you will at least expect to see a clear and distinct account ofwhat 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, ColonelMonson, and Mr. Francis, sat for a short period at theCouncil-Board, --during that time, Mr. Hastings's conduct upon thisoccasion was called into question. They called for an account of therevenues of the country, --what was received, and what had been paid; andin the account returned they found the amount of the tribute due to theMogul, 250, 000_l. _, entered as paid up to October, 1774. Thus far allappeared fair upon the face of it; they took it for granted, as yourLordships would take it for granted, at the first view, that the tributein 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 regulara manner as possible. Whilst they were examining this account, a Mr. Croftes, of whom your Lordships have heard very often, asaccountant-general, comes forward and declares that there was a littleerror in the account. And what was the error? That he had entered theMogul's tribute for one year more than it had actually been paid. Herewe have the small error of a payment to the Mogul of 250, 000_l. _ Thisappeared strange. "Why, " says Mr. Croftes, "I never discovered it; norwas 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 anentry of the last payments. " These were his expressions. You will findthe whole relation in the Bengal Appendix, printed by the orders of theCourt 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 answerworthy of Mr. Larkins, or of any of the other white banians of Mr. Hastings:--"Oh, I have forgotten. " Here you have an accountant-generalkept in ignorance, or who pretends to be ignorant, of so large a paymentas 250, 000_l. _; who enters it falsely in his account; and when asked whoapprised him of his mistake, says that he has really forgotten. 

Oh, my Lords, what resources there are in oblivion! what resources thereare in bad memory! No genius ever has done so much for mankind as thismental defect has done for Mr. Hastings's accountants. It was said byone of the ancient philosophers, to a man who proposed to teach peoplememory, --"I wish you could teach me oblivion; I wish you could teach meto forget. " These people have certainly not been taught the art ofmemory, but they appear perfect masters of the art of forgetting. MyLords, this is not all; and I must request your Lordships' attention tothe whole of the account, as it appears in the account of the arrearsdue 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 bearthe whole expenses. These eight lacs are thus fraudulently accounted forupon the face of the thing; and with respect to eighteen lacs, theremainder of the tribute, there is no account given of it at all. Thissum Mr. Hastings must, therefore, have pocketed for his own use, or thatof his gang of peculators; and whilst he was pretending to save youeight lacs by one fraud, he committed another fraud of eighteen lacs forhimself: and this is the method by which one act of peculation begetsanother in the economy of fraud. 

Thus much of these affairs I think myself bound to state to yourLordships upon this occasion; for, although not one word has beenproduced by the counsel to support the allegations of the prisoner atyour bar, yet, knowing that your Lordships, high as you are, are stillbut men, knowing also that bold assertions and confident declarationsare apt to make some impression upon all men's minds, we oppose hisallegations. But how do we oppose them? Not by things of the likenature. We oppose them by showing you that the House of Commons, afterdiligent investigation, has condemned them, and by stating the groundsupon which the House founded its condemnation. We send you to therecords of the Company, if you want to pursue this matter further, toenlighten your own minds upon the subject. Do not think, my Lords, thatwe are not aware how ridiculous it is for either party, the accuser orthe accused, to make here any assertions without producing vouchers forthem: we know it; but we are prepared and ready to take upon us theproof; and we should be ashamed to assert anything that we are not abledirectly to substantiate by an immediate reference to uncontradictedevidence. 

With regard to the merits pleaded by the prisoner, we could efface thatplea with a single stroke, by saying there is no evidence before yourLordships of any such merits. But we have done more: we have shown youthat the things which he has set up as merits are atrocious crimes, andthat there is not one of them which does not, in the very nature andcircumstances of it, carry evidence of base corruption, as well as offlagrant injustice and notorious breach of public faith. 

The next thing that he takes credit for is precisely an act of thisdescription. The Mogul had, by solemn stipulation with the Company, aroyal domain insured to him, consisting of two provinces, Corah andAllahabad. Of both these provinces Mr. Hastings deprived the Mogul, uponweak pretences, if proved in point of fact, but which were never provedin any sense, against him. I allude particularly to his alleged alliancewith the Mahrattas, --a people, by the way, with whom we were not thenat war, and with whom he had as good a right as Nudjif Khân to enterinto alliance at that time. He takes these domains, almost the lastwrecks of empire left to the descendant of Tamerlane, from the man, Isay, to whose voluntary grants we owe it that we have put a foot inBengal. Surely, we ought, at least, to have kept our faith in leavingthis last retreat to that unfortunate prince. The House of Commons wasof that opinion, and consequently they resolved, "That the transfer ofCorah and Allahabad to the Vizier was contrary to policy and goodfaith. " 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 worthtwenty-two lacs, or thereabouts, that is, about 220, 000_l. _, a year. Ibelieve they were improvable to a good deal more. But what does Mr. Hastings do? Instead of taking them into the Company's possession forthe purpose of preserving them for the Mogul, upon the event of ourbeing better satisfied with his conduct, or of appropriating them to theCompany's advantage, he sells them to the Nabob of Oude, who he knew hadthe art, above all men, of destroying a country which he was to keep, orwhich he might fear he was not to keep, permanent possession of. Andwhat do you think he sold them for? He sold them at a little more thantwo years' purchase. Will any man believe that Mr. Hastings, when hesold these provinces to the Vizier for two years' purchase, and whenthere 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 hisown pocket, and that of his associates?

We charge, therefore, first, that this act for which he assumes meritwas in itself a breach of faith; next, that the sale of these provinceswas scandalously conducted; and thirdly, that this sale, at one fifth ofthe real value, was effected for corrupt purposes. Thus an act ofthreefold delinquency is one of the merits stated with great pomp by hiscounsel. 

Another of his merits is the stoppage of the pension which the Companywas under an obligation to pay to Nudjif Khân: a matter which, even ifadmitted to be a merit, is certainly not worth, as a set-off, muchconsideration. 

But there is another set-off of merit upon which he plumes himself, andsets an exceedingly high value: the sale of the Rohilla nation to thatworthless tyrant, the Vizier, their cruel and bitter enemy, --thecruelest tyrant, perhaps, that ever existed, and their most implacableenemy, if we except Mr. Hastings, who appears to have had a concealeddegree of animosity, public, private, or political, against them. Tothis man he sold this whole nation, whose country, cultivated like agarden, was soon reduced, as Mr. Hastings, from the character of theVizier, 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 extirpatingthese people, who were the bravest, the most honorable, and generousnation upon earth. Those who were not left slaughtered to rot upon thesoil of their native country were cruelly expelled from it, and sent topublish the merciless and scandalous behavior of Great Britain from oneend 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 manpossessing the least degree of regard to honor and justice, humanityand good policy, that did not reprobate this act. The Court ofDirectors, when they heard of it, reprobated it in the strongest manner;the Court of Proprietors reprobated it in the strongest manner; by theHouse of Commons, after the most diligent investigation, it was, in aresolution moved by Mr. Dundas, reprobated in the strongest manner: andthis is the act which Mr. Hastings brings forward before your Lordshipsas a merit. 

But, again, I can prove that in this, perhaps the most atrocious of allhis demerits, there is a most horrid and nefarious secret corruptionlurking. I can tell your Lordships that Sir Robert Barker was offered bythis Vizier, for about one half of this very country, namely, thecountry of the Rohillas, a sum of fifty lacs of rupees, --that is, 500, 000_l. _ Mr. Hastings was informed of this offer by Sir RobertBarker, in his letter of the 24th March, 1773. Still, in the face ofthis information, Mr. Hastings took for the Company only forty lacs ofrupees. I leave your Lordships to draw your own conclusion from thesefacts. You will judge what became of the difference between the priceoffered and the price accounted for as taken. Nothing on earth can hidefrom mankind why Mr. Hastings made this wicked, corrupt bargain for theextermination 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 hemight have had 500, 000_l. _

Your Lordships will observe, that for all these facts there is noevidence, on the one side or on the other, directly before you. Theirmerits have been insisted upon, in long and laborious details anddiscussions, both by Mr. Hastings himself and by his counsel. We haveanswered them for that reason; but we answer them with a directreference to records and papers, from which your Lordships may judge ofthem as set-offs and merits. I believe your Lordships will now hardlyreceive them as merits to set off guilt, since in every one of themthere is both guilt in the act, and strong ground for presuming that hehad corruptly taken money for himself. 

The last act of merit that has been insisted upon by his counsel is theMahratta peace. They have stated to you the distresses of the Company tojustify the unhandsome and improper means that he took of making thispeace. Mr. Hastings himself has laid hold of the same opportunity ofmagnifying the difficulties which, during his government, he had tocontend with. Here he displays all his tactics. He spreads all hissails, and here catches every gale. He says, "I found all Indiaconfederated against you. I found not the Mahrattas alone; I found warthrough a hundred hostile states fulminated against you; I found thePeshwa, the Nizam, Hyder Ali, the Rajah of Berar, all combined togetherfor your destruction. I stemmed the torrent: fortitude is my character. I faced and overcame all these difficulties, till I landed your affairssafe on shore, till I stood the saviour of India. "

My Lords, we of the House of Commons have before heard all this; but wecannot forget that we examined into every part of it, and that we didnot find a single fact stated by him that was not a ground of censureand reprobation. The House of Commons, in the resolutions to which Ihave alluded, have declared, that Mr. Hastings, the first author ofthese proceedings, took advantage of an ambiguous letter of the Courtof Directors to break and violate the most solemn, the mostadvantageous, and useful treaty that the Company had ever made in India;and that this conduct of his produced the strange and unnatural junctionwhich he says he found formed against the Company, and with which he hadto combat. I should trouble your Lordships with but a brief statement ofthe 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 improprietyof your being obliged to hear of that as merit which the House ofCommons has condemned in every part. Your Lordships received obliquelyevidence from the prisoner at your bar upon this subject; yet, when wecame and desired your full inquiry into it, your Lordships, for wise andjust reasons, I have no doubt, refused our request. I must, however, again protest on the part of the Commons against your Lordshipsreceiving such evidence at all as relevant to your judgment, unless theHouse of Commons is fully heard upon it. 

But to proceed. --The government of Bombay had offended the MahrattaStates by a most violent and scandalous aggression. They afterwards madea treaty of peace with them, honorable and advantageous to the Company. This treaty was made by Colonel Upton, and is called the Treaty ofPoorunder. Mr. Hastings broke that treaty, upon his declared principle, that you are to look in war for the resources of your government. AllIndia was at that time in peace. Hyder Ali did not dare to attack us, because he was afraid that his natural enemies, the Mahrattas, wouldfall upon him. The Nizam could not attack us, because he was also afraidof the Mahrattas. The Mahratta state itself was divided into suchdiscordant branches as to make it impossible for them to unite in anyone object; that commonwealth, which, certainly at that time was theterror of India, was so broken, as to render it either totallyineffective or easy to be resisted. There was not one government inIndia that did not look up to Great Britain as holding the balance ofpower, and in a position to control and do justice to every individualparty in it. At that juncture Mr. Hastings deliberately broke the treatyof Poorunder; and afterwards, by breaking faith with and attacking allthe powers, one after another, he produced that very union which onewould hardly have expected that the incapacity or ill faith of anyGovernor could have effected. Your Lordships shall hear the best andmost incontrovertible evidence both of his incapacity and ill faith, andof the consequences which they produced. It is the declaration of one ofthe latest of their allies concerning all these proceedings. It iscontained in a letter from the Rajah of Berar, directly and stronglyinculpating Mr. Hastings, upon facts which he has never denied and byarguments which he has never refuted, as being himself the cause of thatvery 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 neveranswered by him. Indeed, answered it could not be; because the thing wasmanifest, that all the desolation of the Carnatic by Hyder Ali, allthese difficulties upon which he has insisted, the whole of that unionby which he was pressed, and against which, as he says, he bore up withsuch fortitude, was his own work, the consequences of his bad faith, andhis 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 thefolly and madness to produce to you for other purposes, that he might atany time have made a better treaty, and have concluded a more secure andadvantageous peace, than that which at last he acceded to; that thetreaty he made was both disadvantageous and dishonorable, inasmuch as wegave up every ally we had, and sacrificed them to the resentment of theenemy; that Mahdajee Sindia gained by it an empire of a magnitudedangerous to our very existence in India; that this chief was permittedto exterminate all the many little gallant nations that stood between usand the Mahrattas, and whose policy led them to guard against theambitious designs of that government. Almost all these lesser powers, from Central India, quite up to the mountains that divide India fromTartary, almost all these, I say, were exterminated by him, or werebrought under a cruel subjection. The peace he made with Mr. Hastingswas for the very purpose of doing all this; and Mr. Hastings enabledhim, and gave him the means of effecting it. 

Advert next, my Lords, to what he did with other allies. By the treatyof Poorunder, made by Colonel Upton, and which he flagitiously broke, wehad acquired, what, God knows, we little merited from the Mahrattas, twelve lacs, (112, 000_l. _) for the expenses of the war, --and a countryof three lacs of annual revenue, the province of Baroach and the isle ofSalsette, and other small islands convenient for us upon that coast. This was a great, useful, and momentous accession of territory and ofrevenue: and we got it with honor; for not one of our allies weresacrificed by this treaty. We had even obtained from the Mahrattas forRagonaut Row, our support of whom against that government was aprincipal cause of the war, an establishment of a thousand horse, to bemaintained at their expense, and a jaghire for his other expenses ofthree lacs of rupees per annum, payable monthly, with leave to residewithin their territories, with no other condition than that he shouldnot remove from the place fixed for his residence for the purpose ofexciting disturbances against their government. They also stipulated forthe pardon, of all his adherents except four; and the only conditionthey required from us was, that we should not assist him in case of anyfuture disturbance. But Mr. Hastings, by his treaty, surrendered thatcountry of three lacs of revenue; he made no stipulation for theexpenses of the war, nor indemnity for any of the persons whom he hadseduced into the rebellion in favor of Ragonaut Row; he gave them all upto the vengeance of their governments, without a stroke of a pen intheir favor, to be banished, confiscated, and undone; and as to RagonautRow, instead of getting him this honorable and secure retreat, as he wasbound to do, this unfortunate man was ordered to retire to his enemy's(Mahdajee Sindia's) country, or otherwise he was not to receive ashilling for his maintenance. 

I will now ask your Lordships, whether any man but Mr. Hastings wouldclaim a merit with his own country for having broken the treaty ofPoorunder? Your Lordships know the opinion of the House of Commonsrespecting it; his colleagues in Council had remonstrated with him uponit, and had stated the mischiefs that would result from it; and Sir EyreCoote, the commander of the Company's forces, writing at the same timefrom Madras, states, that he thought it would infallibly bring down uponthem Hyder Ali, who, they had reason to think, was bent upon the utterdestruction of the power of this country in India, and was only waitingfor 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 themultiplied frauds, cruelties, and oppressions, all the corruptpractices, prevarications, and swindlings, that we have alleged againsthim. 

My Lords, it would be an endless undertaking, and such as, at this hourof the day, we, as well as your Lordships, are little fitted to engagein, if I were to attempt to search into and unveil all the secretmotives, or to expose as it deserves the shameless audacity of thisman's conduct. None of your Lordships can have observed withoutastonishment the selection of his merits, as he audaciously calls them, which has been brought before you. The last of this selection, inparticular, looks as if he meant to revile and spit upon the legislatureof his country, because we and you thought it fit and were resolved topublish to all India that we will not countenance offensive wars, andthat you felt this so strongly as to pass the first act of a kind thatwas ever made, namely, an act to limit the discretionary power ofgovernment in making war solely, --and because you have done this solelyand upon no other account and for no other reason under heaven than theabuse which that man at your bar has made of it, and for which abuse henow presumes to take merit to himself. I will read this part of the actto 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, thefirst statute, I believe, that ever was made by the legislature of anynation, upon the subject; and it was made solely upon the resolutionsto which we had come against the violent, intemperate, unjust, andperfidious acts of this man at your Lordships' bar, and which acts arenow produced before your Lordships as merits. 

To show further to your Lordships how necessary this act was, here is apart of his own correspondence, the last thing I shall beg to read toyour Lordships, and upon which I shall make no other comment than thatyou will learn from it how well British faith was kept by this man, andthat it was the violation of British faith which prevented our havingthe 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 mancalled Benaram Pundit, with whom Mr. Hastings was at the time treatingfor 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 ridiculousand even buffoonish perfidiousness, which exposed him to the ridicule ofall 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 yourLordships passed into an act of Parliament, with his Majesty's assent. The words _but_, _although_, _besides_, _whereas_, and _why_, and suchlike, are introduced to give an opening, and so on. Then he desires himto 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 actof Parliament which I have just read to you, in order to prevent infuture the recurrence of that want of faith of which Mr. Hastings hadbeen so notoriously guilty, and by which he had not only united allIndia against us, and had hindered us from making, for a long time, anypeace 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 ourcharges; you have heard the prisoner's plea of merits; you have heardour observations on them. In the progress of this impeachment, you haveseen the condition in which Mr. Hastings received Benares; you have seenthe condition in which Mr. Hastings received the country of theRohillas; you have seen the condition in which he received the countryof Oude; you have seen the condition in which he received the provincesof Bengal; you have seen the condition of the country when the nativegovernment was succeeded by that of Mr. Hastings; you have seen thehappiness and prosperity of all its inhabitants, from those of thehighest to those of the lowest rank. My Lords, you have seen the veryreverse of all this under the government of Mr. Hastings, --the countryitself, all its beauty and glory, ending in a jungle for wild beasts. You have seen flourishing families reduced to implore that pity whichthe poorest man and the meanest situation might very well call for. Youhave seen whole nations in the mass reduced to a condition of the samedistress. These things in his government at home. Abroad, scorn, contempt, and derision cast upon and covering the British name, warstirred up, and dishonorable treaties of peace made, by the totalprostitution of British faith. Now take, my Lords, together, all themultiplied delinquencies which we have proved, from the highest degreeof tyranny to the lowest degree of sharping and cheating, and thenjudge, my Lords, whether the House of Commons could rest for one moment, without bringing these matters, which have baffled all legislation atvarious times, before you, to try at last what judgment will do. Judgment is what gives force, effect, and vigor to laws; laws withoutjudgment are contemptible and ridiculous; we had better have no lawsthan laws not enforced by judgments and suitable penalties upondelinquents. Revert, my Lords, to all the sentences which haveheretofore been passed by this high court; look at the sentence passedupon Lord Bacon, look at the sentence passed upon Lord Macclesfield; andthen compare the sentences which your ancestors have given with thedelinquencies which were then before them, and you have the measure tobe taken in your sentence upon the delinquent now before you. Yoursentence, I say, will be measured according to that rule which ought todirect the judgment of all courts in like cases, lessening it for alesser offence, and aggravating it for a greater, until the measure ofjustice is completely full. 

 * * * * *

My Lords, I have done; the part of the Commons is concluded. With atrembling solicitude we consign this product of our long, long labors toyour charge. Take it!--take it! It is a sacred trust. Never before was acause of such magnitude submitted to any human tribunal. 

My Lords, at this awful close, in the name of the Commons, andsurrounded by them, I attest the retiring, I attest the advancinggenerations, between which, as a link in the great chain of eternalorder, we stand. We call this nation, we call the world to witness, thatthe Commons have shrunk from no labor, that we have been guilty of noprevarication, that we have made no compromise with crime, that we havenot feared any odium whatsoever, in the long warfare which we havecarried on with the crimes, with the vices, with the exorbitant wealth, with the enormous and overpowering influence of Eastern corruption. Thiswar, my Lords, we have waged for twenty-two years, and the conflict hasbeen 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 isno inconsiderable space in the history of a great nation. A businesswhich has so long occupied the councils and the tribunals of GreatBritain cannot possibly be huddled over in the course of vulgar, trite, and transitory events. Nothing but some of those great revolutions thatbreak the traditionary chain of human memory, and alter the very face ofNature itself, can possibly obscure it. My Lords, we are all elevated toa 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 forsuch a thing, in the present state of the world, as a recording, retrospective, civilized posterity: but this is in the hands of thegreat 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 letme say, that it stands in the midst of ruins, --in the midst of the ruinsthat have been made by the greatest moral earthquake that ever convulsedand shattered this globe of ours. My Lords, it has pleased Providence toplace us in such a state that we appear every moment to be upon theverge of some great mutations. There is one thing, and one thing only, which defies all mutation, --that which existed before the world, andwill survive the fabric of the world itself: I mean justice, --thatjustice which, emanating from the Divinity, has a place in the breast ofevery one of us, given us for our guide with regard to ourselves andwith regard to others, and which will stand, after this globe is burnedto ashes, our advocate or our accuser before the great Judge, when Hecomes 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 notbe involved: and if it should so happen that we shall be subjected tosome of those frightful changes which we have seen, --if it should happenthat your Lordships, stripped of all the decorous distinctions of humansociety, should, by hands at once base and cruel, be led to thosescaffolds and machines of murder upon which great kings and gloriousqueens have shed their blood, amidst the prelates, amidst the nobles, amidst the magistrates who supported their thrones, may you in thosemoments feel that consolation which I am persuaded they felt in thecritical moments of their dreadful agony!

My Lords, there is a consolation, and a great consolation it is, whichoften happens to oppressed virtue and fallen dignity. It often happensthat the very oppressors and persecutors themselves are forced to beartestimony in its favor. I do not like to go for instances a great wayback into antiquity. I know very well that length of time operates so asto give an air of the fabulous to remote events, which lessens theinterest and weakens the application of examples. I wish to come nearerto the present time. Your Lordships know and have heard (for which of ushas not known and heard?) of the Parliament of Paris. The Parliament ofParis had an origin very, very similar to that of the great court beforewhich I stand; the Parliament of Paris continued to have a greatresemblance to it in its constitution, even to its fall: the Parliamentof Paris, my Lords, WAS; it is gone! It has passed away; it hasvanished like a dream! It fell, pierced by the sword of the Comte deMirabeau. And yet I will say, that that man, at the time of hisinflicting the death-wound of that Parliament, produced at once theshortest and the grandest funeral oration that ever was or could be madeupon the departure of a great court of magistracy. Though he had himselfsmarted under its lash, as every one knows who knows his history, (andhe was elevated to dreadful notoriety in history, ) yet, when hepronounced the death sentence upon that Parliament, and inflicted themortal wound, he declared that his motives for doing it were merelypolitical, and that their hands were as pure as those of justice itself, which they administered. A great and glorious exit, my Lords, of a greatand glorious body! And never was a eulogy pronounced upon a body moredeserved. They were persons, in nobility of rank, in amplitude offortune, in weight of authority, in depth of learning, inferior to fewof those that hear me. My Lords, it was but the other day that theysubmitted their necks to the axe; but their honor was unwounded. Theirenemies, the persons who sentenced them to death, were lawyers full ofsubtlety, they were enemies full of malice; yet lawyers full ofsubtlety, and enemies full of malice, as they were, they did not dare toreproach them with having supported the wealthy, the great, andpowerful, and of having oppressed the weak and feeble, in any of theirjudgments, 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, --andstand I trust you will, together with the fortune of this ancientmonarchy, together with the ancient laws and liberties of this great andillustrious kingdom, --may you stand as unimpeached in honor as in power!May you stand, not as a substitute for virtue, but as an ornament ofvirtue, as a security for virtue! May you stand long, and long stand theterror of tyrants! May you stand the refuge of afflicted nations! Mayyou stand a sacred temple, for the perpetual residence of an inviolablejustice!

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 Khân 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 Khân Part I. Rights of Fyzoola Khân, etc. , before the Treaty of Lall-Dang 268 Part II. Rights of Fyzoola Khân 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 Khân 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 Khân 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. 

Brabançons, 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 Cæsar, 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. 

Cæsar, 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'État 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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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'Espréménil, 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 Cæsar, vii. 162. Policy of Cæsar with regard to them, vii. 163. 

Geneva, possible benefits to it from state granaries, v. 155. 

Genghis Khân, 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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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 Cæsar, 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 Khân, scheme of the creditors of the Nabob of Arcot to extirpate him, iii. 61. Dreadful devastation of the Carnatic by him, iii. 83. 

Hypæthra 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 reëstablished, 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 Khân, 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 Khân, 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 Éloise, 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 Cæsar 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