This may serve for the basis of this article in the
negotiation
upon it.
Edmund Burke
?
?
AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS.
291
as a breach of treaty could only be answered by charging a prior breach of treaty on Fyzoola Khan, so by annulling the whole treaty to reduce the question to
a mere question of force, and thus " oblige Fyzoola
Khan to send the five thousand horse": "for," (continues the Vizier,) "'if, when the Company's affairs,
on which my honor depends, require it, Fyzoola Khan
will not lend his assistance, what USE is there to continue the country to him? "
That the Vizier actually did -make his application
to Fyzoola Kh'an for the five thousand horse, not as
for an aid to which he had a just claim, but as for
something over and above the obligations of the treaty, something "that would give increase to their friendship and satisfaction to the Nabob Governor,"
(meaning the said Hastings,) whose directions he
represents as the motive " of his call for the five thousand horse to be employed," not in his, the Vizier's, "but in the Company's service. "
And that the aforesaid Warren Hastings did, therefore, in recording the answer of Fyzoola Khan as an evasion of treaty, act in notorious contradiction not
only to that which ought to have been the fair construction of the said treaty, but to that which he, the said Hastings, must have known to be the Vizier's
own interpretation of the same, disposed as the Vizier
was " to reproach Fyzoola Khan with breach of treaty," and to " send up persons who should settle points with him. "
V. That the said Warren Hastings, not thinking
himself justified, on the mere plea of an evasion, to
push forward his proceedings to that extremity which
he seems already to have made his scope and object,
? ? ? ? 292 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
and seeking some better color for his unjust and violent purposes, did further move, that commissioners should be sent from the Vizier and the Company to
Fyzoola Khan, to insist on a clause of a treaty which
nowhere appears, being essentially different from the
treaty of Lall-Dang, though not in the part on which
the requisition is founded; and the said Hastings did
then, in a style unusually imperative, proceed as follows.
" Demand immediate delivery of three thousand cavalry; and if he should evade or refuse compliance, that the deputies shall deliver him a formal protest against
him for breach of treaty, and return, making this report to the Vizier, which Mr. Middleton is to transmit
to the board. "
VI. That the said motion of the Governor-General,
Hastings, was ordered accordingly, -- the Council, as
already has been herein related, consisting but of two
members, and the said Hastings consequently " uniting in his own person all the powers of government. " VII. That, when the said Hastings ordered the
said demand for three thousand cavalry, he, the said
Hastings, well knew that a compliance therewith, on
the part of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, was utterly impossible: for he, the said Hastings, had at the very moment before him a letter of Fyzoola Khan, stating,
that he, Fyzoola Khan, had " but two thousand cavalry" altogether; which letter is entered on the records of the Company, in the same Consultation, immediately preceding the Governor-General's minute. That the said Hastings, therefore, knew that the only possible consequence of the aforesaid demand necessarily
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 293
and inevitably must be a protest for a breach of treaty; and the Court of Directors did not hesitate to declare that the said demand "carried the appearance of a determination to create a pretext for depriving
him [Fyzoola KIhan] of his jaghire entirely, or to
leave him at the mercy of the Vizier. "
VIII. That Richard Johnson, Esquire, Assistant
Resident at Oude, was, agreeably to the:afore-mentioned order of Council, deputed commissioner from
Mr. Middleton and the Vizier to Fyzoola Khan; but
that he did early give the most indecent proofs of
glaring partiality, to the prejudice of the said Fyzoola
Khan: for that the very next day (as it seems) after
his arrival, he, the said Johnson, from opinions imbibed in his journey, did state himself to be " unwilling to draw any favorable or flattering inferences relatively to the object of his mission," and did studiously seek to find new breaches of treaty, and, without
any form of regular inquiry whatever, from a single
glance of his eye in passing, did take upon himself to
pronounce "the Rohilla soldiers, in the district of
Rampoor alone, to be not less than twenty thousand,"
and the grant of course to be forfeited. And that
such a gross and palpable display of a predetermination to discover guilt did argue in the said Johnson
a knowledge, a strong presumption, or a belief, that
such representations would be agreeable to the secret
wishes and views of the said Hastings, under whose
orders he, the said Johnson, acted, and to whom all
his reports were to be referred.
IX. That the said Richard Johnson did soon after proceed to the immediate object of his mission,
? ? ? ? 294 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
" which" (the said Johnson relates) 1" was short to a
degree. " The demand was made, and " a flat refusal" given. The question was repeated, with like
effect. The said Johnson, in presence of proper
witnesses, then drew up his protest, "together with
a memorandum of a palliative offer made by the Nabob Fyzoola Khan," and inserted in the protest:" That he would, in compliance with the demand, and in conformity to the treaty, which specified no
definite number of cavalry or infantry, only expressing
troops, furnish three thousand men: viz. , he would,
in addition to the one thousand cavalry already granted, give one thousand more, when and wheresoever
required, and one thousand foot," -together with
one year's pay in advance, and funds for the regular
payment of them in future.
And this, the said Richard Johnson observes, "I
put down at his [the Nabob Fyzoola Khan's] particular desire, but otherwise useless; as my orders"
(which orders do not appear) "' were, not to receive any
palliation, but a negative or affirmative": though such
palliation, as it is called by the said Johnson, might
be, as it was, in the strictest conformity to the treaty.
X. That in the said offer the Nabob Fyzoola Khan,
instead of palliating, did at once admit the extreme
right of the Vizier under the treaty, by agreeing to
furnish three thousand men, when he, Fyzoola Khan,
would have been justified in pleading his inability to
send more than two thousand; that such inability
would not (as appears) have been a false and evasive plea, but perfectly true and valid, -- as the three
thousand foot maintained by Fyzoola Khan were for
the purposes of his internal government, for which the
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 295
whole three thousand must have been demonstrably
necessary; and that the Nabob Fyzoola Kha'n, by declining to avail himself of a plea so fair, so well founded, and so consonant to the indulgence expressly acknowledged in the treaty, and by thus meeting the specific demand of the Vizier as fully as, according to
his own military establishment, he could, did for the
said offer deserve rather the thanks of the said Vizier
and the Company than the protest which the aforesaid
Johnson, under the orders of Warren Hastings, did
deliver.
XI. That the report of the said protest, as well as
the former letter of the said Johnson, were by thie
Resident, Middleton, transmitted to the board, together with a letter from the Vizier, founded on the said
report and letter of the said Johnson, and proposing
in consequence "to resume the grant, and to leave
Fyzoola Khllan to join his other faithless brethren who
were sent across the Ganges. "
That the said papers were read in Council on the
4th of June, 1781, when the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, did move and carry a vote to suspend a
final resolution on the same: and the said Hastings
did not express any disapprobation of the proceedings
of the said Johnson; neither did the said EHastings
assign any reasons for his motion of suspension, which
passed without debate. That in truth the said Hastings had then projected a journey up the country to
meet the Vizier for the settlement of articles relative
to the regulation of Oude and its dependencies, among
which was included the jaghire of Fyzoola Klen; and
the said Hastings, for the aforesaid purposes, did, on
the 3d of July, by his own casting vote, grant to him
? ? ? ? 296 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
self, and did prevail on his colleague, Edward Wheler, Esquire, to grant, a certain illegal delegation of
the whole powers of the Governor-General and Council, and on the seventh of the same month did proceed
on his way to join the Vizier at a place called Chunar,
on the borders of Benares; and that the aforesaid.
vote of suspending a final resolution on the transactions with Fyzoola Khan was therefore in substance
and effect a reference thereof by the said Hastings
from himself in council with his colleague, Wheler,
to himself in conference and negotiation with the Vizier, who, from the first demand of the five thousand
horse, had taken every occasion of showing his incli.
nation to dispossess Fyzoola Khaln, and who before
the said demand (in a letter which does not appear,
but which the Vizier himself quotes as antecedent to
the said demand) had complained to the said Hastings
of the "' injury and irregularity in the management
of the provinces bordering on Rampoor, arising from
Fyzoola Khan having the uncontrolled dominion of
that district. "
PART VI.
TREATY OF CHUNAR.
I. THAT the Governor-General, Warren Hastings,
being vested with the illegal powers before recited,
did, on the 19th of September, 1781, enter into a
treaty with the Vizier at Chunar, - which treaty (as
the said Hastings relates) was drawn up "from a series of requisitions presented to him [the said Hastings] by the Vizier," and by him received "with an instant and unqualified assent to each article"; and
that the said Hastings assigns his reasons for such
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 297
ready assent in the following words: "I considered
the subjects of his [the Vizier's] requests as essential
to the reputation of our government, and no less to
our interest than his. "
II. That in the said treaty of Chunar the third
article is as follows.
" That, as Fyzoola Khan has by his breach of treaty
forfeited the protection of the English government,
and causes by his continuance in his present independent state great alarm and detriment to the Nabob Vizier, he be permitted, when time shall suit, to resume his lands, and pay him in money, through the
Resident, the amount stipulated by treaty, after deducting the amount and charges of the troops he
stands engaged to furnish by treaty; which amount
shall be passed to the account of the Company during the continuance of the present war. "
III. That, for the better elucidation of his policy
ill the several articles of the treaty above mentioned,
the said Hastings did send to the Council of Calcutta
(now consisting of Edward Wheler and John Macpherson, Esquires) two different copies of the said
treaty, with explanatory minutes opposed to each
article; and that the minute opposed to the third
article is thus expressed.
"The conduct of Fyzoola Khan, in refusing the
aid demanded, though (1. ) not an absolute breach of
treaty, was evasive and uncandid. (2. ) The demand
was made for five thousand cavalry. (3. ) The engagement in the treaty is literally for five thousand horse and
foot. Fyzoola Khan could not be ignorant that we
had no occasion for any succors of infantry from him,
? ? ? ? 298 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
and that cavalry would be of the most essential service. (4. ) So scrupulous an attention to literal expression, when a more liberal interpretation would have been highly useful and acceptable to us, strongly marks his
unfriendly disposition, though it may not impeach his fidelity, and leaves him little claim to any exertions from
us for the continuance of his jaghires. But (5. ) Iam
of opinion that neither the Vizier's nor the Company's
interests would be promoted by depriving Eyzoola Khdn
of his independency, and I have (6. ) therefore reserved
the execution of this agreement to an indefinite term;
and ourgovernment may always interpose to prevent any
ill efects from it. "
IV. That, ili his aforesaid authentic evidence of his
own purposes, motives, and principles, inl the third article of the treaty of Chunar, the said Hastings hath
established divers matters of weighty and serious
crimination against himself.
1st. That the -said Hastings doth acknowledge
therein, that he did, in a public instrument, solemnly
recognize, " as a breach of treaty," and as such did
subject to the consequent penalties, an act which he,
the said Hastings, did at the same time think, and
did immediately declare, to be " no breach of treaty ";
and by so falsely and unjustly proceeding against a
person under the Company's guaranty, the said Hastilngs, on his own confession, did himself break the
faith of the said guaranty.
2d. That, in justifying this breach of the Company's faith, the said Hastings doth wholly abandon
his second peremptory demand for the three thousand
horse, and the protest consequent thereon; and the
said Hastings doth thereby himself condemn the violence and injustice of the same.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 299
3dly. That, in recurring to the original demand of
five thousand horse as the ground of his justification,
the said Hastings doth falsely assert " the engagement
in the treaty to be literally FIVE thousand horse and
foot," whereas it is in fact for TWO or THREE thousand
men; and the said Hastings doth thereby wilfully
attempt to deceive and mislead his employers, which
is an high crime and misdemeanor in a servant of so
great trust.
4thly. That, with a view to his further justification, the said Hastings doth advance a principle that
"'a scrupulous attention to the literal expression" of
a guarantied treaty "leaves" to the person so observing the same "but little claim to the exertions"
of a guaranty on his behalf; that such a principle
is utterly subversive of all faith of guaranties, and is
therefore highly crniminal in the first executive member of a government that must necessarily stand in
that mutual relation to many.
5thly. That the said Hastings doth profess his
opinion of an article to which he gave an" instant and
unqualified assent," that it was a measure " by which
neither the TVizier's nor the Company's interests would
be promoted," but from which, without some interposition, " ill effects " must be expected; and that the said
Hastings doth thereby charge himself with a high
breach of trust towards his employers.
6thly. That the said Hastings having thus confessed that consciously and wilfully (from what motives he hath not chosen to confess) he did give his
formal sanction to a measure both of injustice and
impolicy, he, the said Hastings, doth urge in his defence, that he did at the' same time insert words " reserving the execution of the said agreement to an in
? ? ? ? 800 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
definite term," with an intent that it might in truth
be never executed at all, -but that "our government
might always interpose," without right, by means of
an indirect and undue influence, to prevent the ill
effects following from a collusive surrender of a clear
and authorized right to interpose; and the said Hastings doth thereby declare himself to have introduced
a principle of duplicity, deceit, and double-dealing into a public engagement, which ought in its essence to
be clear, open, and explicit; that such a declaration
tends to shake and overthrow the confidence of all in
the most solemn instruments of any person so declaring, and is therefore an high crime and misdemeanor
in the first executive member of government, by whom
all treaties and other engagements of the state are
principally to be conducted.
V. That, by the explanatory minute aforesaid, the
said Warren Hastings doth further, in the most direct
manner, contradict his own assertions in the very letter which inclosed the said minute to his colleagues;
for that one of the articles to which he there gave
" an instant and unqualified assent, as no less to our interest than to the Vizier's," he doth here declare unequivocally to be neither to our interests nor the Vizier's; and the " unqualified assent " given to the said article is now so qualified as wholly to defeat itself.
That by such irreconcilable contradictions the said
Hastings doth incur the suspicion of much criminal
misrepresentation in other like cases of unwitnessed
conferences; and in the present instance (as far as it
extends) the said Hastings doth prove himself to have
given an account both of his actions and motives by
his own confession untrue, for the purpose of deceiv
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN EASTINGS. 301
ing his employers, which is an high crime and misdemeanor in a servant of so great trust.
VI. That the said third article of the treaty of
Chunar, as it thus stands explained by the said Hastings himself, doth on the whole appear designed to hold the protection of the Company in suspense; that
it acknowledges all right of interference to cease,
but leaves it to our discretion to determine when it
will suit our conveniency to give the Vizier the liberty of acting on the principles by us already admitted; that it is dexterously constructed to balance the desires of one man, rapacious and profuse, against the fears of another, described as "of extreme pusillanimity and wealthy," but that, whatever may have been the secret objects of the artifice and intrigue
confessed to form its very essence, it must on the
very face of it necessarily implicate the Company in
a breach of faith, whichever might be the event, as
they must equally break their faith either by with
drawing their guaranty unjustly or by continuing
that guaranty in contradiction to this treaty of Chunar; that it thus tends to hold out to India, and
to the whole world, that the public principle of the
English government is a deliberate system of injustice joined with falsehood, of impolicy, of bad faith, and treachery; and that the said article is therefore
in the highest degree derogatory to the honor, and
injurious to the interests of this nation.
? ? ? ? 302 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
PART VII.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE TREATY OF CHUNAR.
I. THAT, in consequence of the treaty of Chunar,
the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, did send official instructions respecting the various articles of the said treaty to the said Resident, Middleton; and
that, in a postscript, the said Hastings did forbid the
resumption of the Nabob Fyzoola KhAn's jaghire,
"until circumstances may render it more expedient
and easy to be attempted than the present more
material pursuits of government make it appear":
thereby intimating a positive limitation of the indefinite term in the explanatory minute above recited, and confining the suspension of the article to the
pressure of the war.
II. That, soon after the date of the said instructions,
and within two months of the signature of the treaty
of Chunar, the said Hastings did cause Sir Elijah Impey, Knight, his Majesty's chief-justice at Fort William, to discredit the justice of the crown of Great Britain by making him the channel of unwarrantable communication, and did, through the said Sir
Elijah, signify to the Resident, Middleton, his, the
said Hastings's, "approbation of a subsidy from Fyzoola Khan. "
III. That the Resident, in answer, represents the
proper equivalent for two thousand horse and one
thousand foot (the forces offered to Mr. Johnson by
Fyzoola Khan) to be twelve lacs, or 120,0001. sterling
and upwards, each year; which the said Resident
supposes is considerably beyond what he, Fyzoola
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 303
Khan, will voluntarily pay: "however, if it is your
wish that the claim should be made, I am ready to
take it up, and you may be assured nothing in my
power shall be left undone to carry it through. "
IV. That the reply of the said Hastings doth not
appear; but that it does appear on record that " a
negotiation" ( Mr. Johlson's) "was begun for Fyzoola Khan's cavalry to act with General Goddard, and,
on his [Fyzoola Khan's] evading it, that a sum of
money was demanded. "
V. That, ill the months of February, March, and
April, the Resident, Middleton, did repeatedly propose the resumption of Fyzoola Khlian's jaghire, agreeably to the treaty of Chunar; and that, driven to extremity (as the said Hastings supposes) "by the public menaces and denunciations of the Resident and minister," Hyder Beg Khan, a creature of the said
Hastings, and both the minister and Resident acting
professedly on and under the treaty of Chunar, " the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan made such preparations, and
such a disposition of his family and wealth, as evidently manifested either an intended or an expected
rupture. "
VI. That on the 6th of May the said Hastings did
send his confidential agent and friend, Major Palmer,
on a private commission to Lucknow; and that the
said Palmer was charged with secret instructions relative to Fyzoola Khan, but of what import cannot be
ascertained, the said Hastings in his public instructions having inserted only the name of Fyzoola Khan,
as a mere reference (according to the explanation of
? ? ? ? 304 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the said Hastings) to what he had verbally communicated to the said Palmer; and that the said Hastings was thereby guilty of a criminal concealment.
VII. That some time about the month of August
an engagement happened between a body of Fyzoola
Kha'n's cavalry and a part of the Vizier's army, in
which the latter were beaten, and their guns taken;
that the Resident, Middleton, did represent the same
but as a slight and accidental affray; that it was acknowledged the troops of the Vizier were the aggressors; that it did appear to the board, and to the said
Hastings himself, an affair of more considerable magnitude; and that they did make the concealment thereof an article of charge against the Resident, Middleton, though the said Resident did in truth acquaint them with the same, but in a cursory manner.
VIII. That, immediately after the said " fray " at
Daranagur, the Vizier (who was " but a cipher in the
hands" of the minister and the Resident, both of
them directly appointed and supported by the said
Hastings) did make of Fyzoola Khan a new demand,
equally contrary to the true intent and meaning of
the treaty as his former requisitions: which new deL
mand was for the detachment in garrison at Daranagur to be cantoned as a stationary force at Lucknow,
the capital of the Vizier; whereas he, the Vizier, had
only a right to demand an occasional aid to join his
army in the field or in garrison during a war. But
the said new demand being evaded, or rather refused,
agreeably to the fair construction of the treaty, by
the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, the matter was for the present dropped.
? ? ? ? A(GAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 30. 5
IX. That in the letter in which the Resident, Middleton, did mention "what he calls the fray " aforesaid, the said Middleton did again apply for the resumption of the jaghire of Rampoor; and that, the objections against the measure being now removed,
(by the separate peace with Sindia,) he desired to
know if the board " would give assurances of their
support to the Vizier, in case, which" (says the Resident) "I think -very probable, his [the Vizier's] own
strength should befound unequal to the undertaking. "
X. That, although the said Warren Hastings did
make the foregoing application a new charge against
the Resident, Middleton, yet the said Hastings did
only criminate the said Middleton for a proposal tending " at such a crisis to increase the number of our
enemies," and did in no degree, either in his articles
of charge or in his accompanying minutes, express
any disapprobation whatever of the principle; that,
in truth, the whole proceedings of the said Resident
were the natural result of the treaty of Chunar; that
the said proceedings were from time to time communicated to the said Hastings; that, as he nowhere
charges any disobedience of orders on Mr. Middleton
with respect to Fyzoola Khan, it may be justly inferred that the said Hastings did not interfere to
check the proceedings of the said Middleton on that
subject; and that by such criminal neglect the said
Hastings did make:the guilt of the said Middleton,.
whatever it might be, his own.
VOL. I2X. 20
? ? ? ? 206 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
PART VIII.
PECUNIARY COMMUTATION OF THE STIPULATED AID.
I. THAT on the charges and for the misdemeanors
above specified, together with divers other accusations, the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, ir.
September, 1782, did remove the aforesaid Middleton
from his office of Resident at Oude, and did appoint
thereto John Bristow, Esquire, whom he had twice
before, without cause, recalled from the same; and
that about the same time the said Hastings did believe the mind of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan. to be so
irritated, in consequence of the above-recited conduct
of the late Resident, Middleton, and of his, the said
HIastings's, own criminal neglect, that he, the said
Hastings, found it necessary to write to Fyzoola
Khan, assuring him'" of the favorable disposition of
the government toward him, while he shall not have
forfeited it by any improper conduct"; but that the
said assurances of the Governor-General did not tend,
-as soon after appeared, to raise much confidence in
-the Nabob, over whom a public instrument of the
same Hastings was still holding the terrors of a deprivation of his jaghire, and an exile " among his oth-. er faithless brethren across the Ganges. " II. That, on the subject of Fyzoola Khan, the said
Hastings, in his instructions to the new Resident,
Bristow, did leave him to be guided by his own
discretion; but he adds, " Be careful to prevent the
Vizier's affairs from being involved with new difficulties, while he has already so many to oppress him":
thereby plainly hinting at some more decisive measures, whenever the Vizier should be less oppressed
with difficulties.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 307
III. That the Resident, Bristow, after acquainting
the Governor-General with his intentions, did under
the said instructions renew the aforesaid claim for a
sum of money, but with much caution and circumspection, distantly sounding Allif Khan, the vakeel
(or envoy) of Fyzoola Khan at the court of the
Vizier; that " Allif Khan wrote to his master on the
subject, and in answer he was directed not to agree
to the granting of any pecuniary aid. "
IV. That the Resident, Bristow, did then openly
depute Major Palmer: aforesaid, with the concurrence
of the Vizier, and the approbation of the GovernorGeneral, to the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, at Rampoor;
and that the said Palmer was to " endeavor to convince the Nabob that all doubts of his attachment to the Vizier are ceased, and whatever claims may be made
on him are founded upon the basis of his interest and
advantage and a plan of establishing his right to the
possession of his jaghire. " That the sudden ceasing
of the said doubts, without any inquiry of the slightest kind, doth warrant a strong presumption of the Resident's conviction that they never really existed,
but were artfully feigned, as a pretence for some
harsh interposition; and that the indecent mockery
of establishing, as a matter of favor, for a pecuniary
consideration, rights which were never impeached
but by the treaty of Chunar, (an instrument recorded
by Warren Hastings himself to be founded on falsehood and injustice,) doth powerfully prove the true purpose and object of all the duplicity, deceit, and
double-dealing with which that treaty was projected
and executed.
? ? ? ? 308 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
V. That the said Palmer was instructed by the
Resident, Bristow, with the subsequent approbation
of the Governor-General, "'-to obtain from Fyzoola
Khan an annual, tribute"; to which the Resident
adds, -" If you can procure from him, over and above
this, a peshcush [or fine] of at least five lacs, it would
be rendering an essential service to the Vizier, and
add to the confidence his -Excellency would hereafter
repose in the attachment of the Nabob Fyzoola Khdn. "
And that the said Governor-General, Hastings, did
give the following extraordinary ground of calculation, as the basis of the said Palmer's negotiation for
the annual tribute aforesaid.
" It was certainly understood, at the time the treaty
was concluded, (of which this stipulation was a part,)
that it applied solely to cavalry: as the Nabob Vizier,
possessing the service of our forces, could not possibly
require infantry, and least of all such infantry as Fyzoola Khan could furnish; and a single horseman included in the aid which Eyzoola Khdn might furnish would prove a literal compliance with the said stipulation. The number, therefore, of horse implied by it
ought at least to be ascertained: we will supposefive
thousand, and, allowing the exigency for their attendance to exist only in the proportion of one year in five,
reduce the demand to one thousand for the computation of the subsidy, which, at the rate of fifty rupees
per man, will amount to fifty thousand per mensem.
This may serve for the basis of this article in the negotiation upon it. "
VI. That the said Warren Hastings doth then continue to instruct the said Palmer in the alternative
of a refusal from Fyzoola Khan. "If Fyzoola Khan
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 309
shall refuse to treat for a subsidy, and claim the benefit of his original agreement in its literal expression, he possesses a right which we cannot dispute, and it
will in that case remain only to fix the precise number of horse which he shall furnish, which ought at least to exceed twenty-five hundred. "
VII. That, in the above-recited instruction, the
said Warren. Hastings doth insinuate (for he doth not
directly assert), --
1st. That we are entitled by treaty to five thousand
troops, which he says were undoubtedly intended to
be all cavalry.
2d. That the said Hastings doth then admit that
a single horseman, included in the aid furnished by
Fyzoola Kha'n, would prove a literal compliance.
3d. That the said Hastings doth next resort again
to the supposition of our right to the whole five thousand cavalry.
4th. That the said Hastings doth afterwards think,
in the event of an explanation of the treaty, and a
settlement of the proportion of cavalry, instead of a
pecuniary commutation, it will be all we can demand
that the number should at least exceed twenty-five hundred.
5th. That the said Hastings doth, in calculating
the supposed time of their service, assume an arbitrary
estimate of one year of war to four of peace; which
( however moderate the calculation may appear on the
average of the said Hastings's own government) doth
involve a principle in a considerable degree repugnant to the system of perfect peace inculcated in the: standing orders of the Company.
6th. That, in estimating the pay of the cavalry to
? ? ? ? 3810 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
be commuted, the said Hastings doth fix the pay of
each man at fifty rupees a month; which on five
thousand troops, all cavalry, (as the said Hastings
supposes the treaty of Lall-Dang to have meant,)
would amount to an expense of thirty lacs a year, or
between 300,0001. or 400,0001. And this expense,
strictly resulting (according to the calculations of the
said Hastings) from the intention of Sujah ul Dowlah's
grant to Fyzoola Khan, was designed to be supported
out of a jaghire valued at fifteen lacs only, or something more than 150,0001. of yearly revenue, just half the amount of the expense to be incurred in consideration of the said jaghire.
And that a basis of negotiation so inconsistent, so
arbitrary, and so unjust is contrary to that uprightness
and integrity which should mark the transactions of
a great state, and is highly derogatory to the honor
of this nation.
VIII. That, notwithstanding the seeming moderation and justice of the said Hastings in admitting the clear and undoubted right of Fyzoola Khanl to insist
on his treaty, the head of instruction immediately
succeeding doth afford just reason for a violent presumption that such apparent lenity was but policy, to give a color to his conduct: he, the said Hastings, in
the very next paragraph, bringing forth a new engine
of oppression, as follows.
"To demand the surrender of all the ryots [or
peasants] of the Nabob Vizier's dominions to whom
Fyzoola has given protection and service, or an annual
tribute in compensation for the loss sustained by the Nabob
Vizier in his revenue thus transferred to ]Fiyzoola KXhn.
"You have stated the increase of his jaghire, occa
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 811
sioned by this act, at the moderate sum of fifteen lacs.
Tie tribute ought at least to be one third of that amount.
"We conceive that Fyzoola Khan himself may be
disposed to yield to the preceding demand, on the additional condition of being allowed to hold his lands in ultumgaw [or an inheritable tenure] instead of his
present tenure by jaghire [or a tenure for life]. This
we think the Vizier can have no objection to grant,
and we recommend it; but for this a fine, or peshcush,
ought to be immediately paid, in the customary proportion
of the jumma, estimated at thirty lacs. "
IX. That the Resident, Bristow, (to whom the letter
containing Major Palmer's instructions is addressed,)
nowhere attributes the increase of Fyzoola Khan's
revenues to this protection of the fugitive ryots, subjects of the Vizier; that the said Warren Hastings was, therefore, not warranted to make that a pretext
of such a peremptory demand. That, as an inducement to make Fyzoola Khan agree to the said demand, it is offered to settle his lands upon a tenure which
would secure them to his children; but that settlement
is to bring with it a new demand of a fine of thirty
lacs, or 300,0001. and upwards; that the principles
of the said demand are violent and despotic, and the
inducement to acquiescence deceitful and insidious;
and that both the demand and the inducement are
derogatory to the honor of this nation.
X. That Major Palmer aforesaid proceeded under
these instructions to Rampoor, where his journey " to
extort a sum of money" was previously known from
Allif Khan, vakeel of Fyzoola Khan at the Vizier's
court; and that, notwithstanding the assurances of
? ? ? ? 312 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the friendly disposition of government given by the
said Hastings, (as is herein related,) the Nabob Fyzoola Khan did express the most serious and desponding apprehensions, both by letter and through his vakeel, to the Resident, Bristow, who represents them to Major Palmer in the following manner.
"The Nabob Fyzoola Khan complains of the distresses he has this year suffered from the drought.
The whole collections have, with great management,
amounted to about twelve lacs of rupees, from which
sum he has to support his troops, his family, and
several relations and dependants of the late Rohilla
chiefs. He says, it clearly appears to be intended to
deprive him of his country, as the high demand you have
made of him is inadmissible. Should he have assented
to it, it would be impossible to perform the conditions,
and then his reputation would be injured by a breach
of agreement. Allif Khdn further represents, that it
is his master's intention, in case the demand should not
be relinquished by you, first to proceed to Lucknow, where
he proposes having an interview with the Vizier and the
Resident; if he should not be able to obtain his own
terms. for a future possession of his jaghire, he will set
off for Cbalcutta in order to pray for justice from the
Honorable the Governor-General. He observes, it is
the custom of the Honorable Company, when they
deprive a chief of his country, to grant him some
allowance. This he expects from Mr. Hastings's
bounty; but if he should be disappointed, he will certainly set off upon a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina,
and renounce the cares of the world. - He directs his
vakeel to ascertain whether the English intend to deprive him of his country; for if they do, he is ready
to surrender it, upon receiving an order from the
Resident. "
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 313
XI. That, after much negotiation, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, " being fully sensible that an engagement
to furnish military aid, however clearly the conditions
might be stated, must be a source of perpetual misunderstanding and inconveniencies," did at length agree with Major Palmer to give fifteen lacs, or 150,0001. and
upwards, by four instalments, that he might be exempted from all future claims of military service;
that the said Palmer represents it to be his belief,
"that no person, not known to possess your [the said
HETastings's] confidence and support in the degree that
lam supposed to do, would have obtained nearly so
good terms"; but from what motive "terms so
good" were granted, and how the confidence and
support of the said Hastings did truly operate on the
mind of Fyzoola KhIn, doth appear to be better explained by another passage in the same letter, where
the said Palmer congratulates himself on the satisfaction which he gave to Pyzoola Khdn in the conduct of
this negotiation, as he spent a month in order to effect " by argument and persuasion what he could have obtained in an hotr by threats and compulsions. "
PART IX.
FULL VINDICATION OF FYZOOLA KHAN BY MAJOR PALMER
AND MR. HASTINGS.
I. THAT, in the course of the said negotiation for
establishing the rights of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan,
Major Palmer aforesaid did communicate to the Resident, Bristow, and through the said Resident to the Council-General of Bengal, the full and direct denial
of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan to all and every of the
charges made or pretended to be made against him,
as follows.
? ? ? ? 314 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
" Fyzoola Khan persists in denying the infringement
on his part of any one article in the treaty, or the
neglect of any obligation which it imposed upon him.
"He does not admit of the improvements reported to
be made in his jaghire, and even asserts that the collections this year will fall short of the original jumma [or estimate] by reason of the long drought.
"He denies having exceeded the limited number
of Rohillas in his service;
"And having refused the required aid of cavalry,
made by Johnson, to act with General Goddard.
"'He observes, respecting the charge of evading the
Vizier's requisition for the cavalry lately stationed at
Daranagur, to be stationed at Lucknow, that he is
not bound by treaty to maintain a stationary force
for the service of the Vizier, but to supply an aid of
two or three thousand troops in time of war.
" Lastly, he asserts, that, so far from encouraging
the ryots [or peasants] of the Vizier to settle in his
jaghire, it has been his constant *practice to deliver
them up to the Aumil of Rohilcund, whenever he
could discover them. "
II. That, in giving his opinions on the aforesaid
denials of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, the said Palmer
did not controvert any one of the constructions of the
treaty advanced by the said Nabob.
That, although the said Palmer, "from general appearances as well as universal report, did not doubt that the jlunma of the jaghire is greatly increased,"
yet he, the said Palmer, did not intimate that it was
increased in any degree near the amount reported, as
it was drawn out in a regular estimate transmitted to
the said Palmer expressly for the purposes of his nego
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 315
tiation, which was of course by him produced to the
Nabob Fyzoola Khnll, and to which specifically the denial of Fyzoola Kha'n must be understood to apply. That the said Palmer did not hint any doubt of
the deficiency affirmed by Fyzoola Khaln in the collections for the current year: and,
That, if any increase of jumma did truly exist,
whatever it may have been, the said Palmer did acknowledge it "to have been solemnly relinquished (in a private agreement) by the Vizier. "
That, although the said Palmer did suppose the
number of Rohillas (employed "in ordinary occupations) in Rampoor alone to exceed that limited
by the treaty for his [Fyzoola Khan's] service," yet
the said Palmer did by no means imply that the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan maintained in his service a
single man more than was allowed by treaty; and
by a particular and minute account of the troops
of Fyzoola KhAn, transmitted by the Resident, Bristow, to the said Palmer, the number was stated but at 5,840, probably including officers, who were not
understood to be comprehended in the treaty.
That the said Palmer did further admit it "to be
not clearly expressed in the treaty, whether the restriction included Rohillas of all descriptions "; but,
at any rate, he adds, " it does not appear that their
number is formidable, or that he [Fyzoola Khan]
could by any means subsist such numbers as could
cause any serious alarm to the Vizier; neither is there
any appearance of their entertaining any views beyond the quiet possession of the advantages which they at present enjoy. "
And that, in a subsequent letter, in which the
said Palmer thought it prudent " to vindicate him
? ? ? ? 316 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
self from any possible insinuation that he meant to
sacrifice the Vizier's interest," he, the said Palmer,
did positively attest, the new claim on Fyzoola KhAn
for tihe protection of the Vizier's ryots to be wholly
without foundation, as the Nabob Fyzoola Khan
" had proved to him [Palmer], by producing receipts
of various dates and for great numbers of these people surrendered upon requisition from the Vizier's officers. "
III. That, over and above the aforesaid complete
refutation of the different charges and pretexts under
which exactions had been practised, or attempted to
be practised, on the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, the said
Palmer did further condemn altogether the principle
of calculation assumed in such exactions (even if
they had been founded in justice) by the following
explanation of the nature of the tenure by which,
under the treaty of Lall-Dang, the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan held his possessions as a jaghiredar.
"There are no precedents in the ancient usage
of the country for ascertaining the nuzzerana [customary present] or peshcush [regular fine] of grants of this nature: they were bestowed by the prince as
rewards or favors; and the accustomary present in
return was adapted to the dignity of the donor rather than to the value of the gift, - to which it never, I believe, bore any kind of proportion. "
IV. That a sum of money ('"which of course
was to be received by the Company") being now
obtained, and the " interests both of the Company and
the Vizier" being thus much " better promoted" by
" establishing the rights" of Fyzoola Khan than they
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 317
could have been by " depriving him of his independency," when every undue influence of secret and
criminal purposes was removed from the mind of
the GQovernor-General, Warref Hastings, Esquire, he,
the said Hastings, did also concur with his friend and
agent, Major Palmer, in the vindication of the Nabob
Fyzoola Khan, and in the most ample manner.
That the said Warren Hastings did now clearly
and explicitly understand the clauses of the treaty,
" that Fyzoola Khan should send two or three [and
not five] thousand men, or attend in person, in case
it was requisite. "
That the said Warren Hastings did now confess
that the right of the Vizier under the treaty was
At best' but a precarious and unserviceable right;
and that he thought fifteen lacs, or 150,0001. and
upwards, an ample equivalent," (or, according to
the expression of Major Palmer, an excellent bargain,) as in truth it was, " for expunging an article
of such a tenor and so loosely worded. "
And, finally, that the said Hastings did give the
following description of the general character, disposition, and circumstances of the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan.
"The rumors which had been spread of his hostile designs against the Vizier were totally groundless, and if he had been inclined, he had not the means to make himself formidable; on the contrary, being in the decline of life, and possessing a very
fertile and prosperous jaghire, it is more natural
to suppose that Fyzoola Khan wishes to spend the
remainder of his days in quietness than that he is
preparing to embark in active and offensive scenes
which must end in his own destruction. "
? ? ? ? 818, ARTICLES OF CHARGE.
V. Yet that, notwithstanding this virtual and im
plied crimination of his whole conduct toward the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan, and after all the aforesaid acts
systematically prosecuted in open violation' of a positive treaty against a prince who had an hereditary right to more than he actually possessed, for whose
protection the faith of the Company and the nationi
was repeatedly pledged, and who had deserved and
obtained the public thanks of the British government, - when, iii allusion to certain of the said acts,
the Court of Directors had expressed to the said
Hastings their' wishes " to be considered rather as
the guardians of the honor and property of the native powers than as the instruments of oppression," he, the said Hastings, in reply to the said Directors,
his masters, did conclude his official account of the
final settlement with Fyzoola Khan with the following
indecent, because unjust, exultation: -
" Such are the measures which we shall ever wish
to observe towards our allies or dependants upon our
frontiers. "
? ? ? ? APPENDIX
TO THE
EIGHTH AND SIXTEENTH CHARGES. *
Copy of a Letter from Warren Hastings, Esquire, to William Devaynes, Esquire, Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, dated: Cheltenham, 11th of July, 1785, and printed by order of the House
of Commons.
To William Devaynes, Esquire, Chairman of the Honorable the Court of Directors.
SIR, - The Honorable Court of Directors, in their
general letter to Bengal by the "Surprise," dated the 16th March, 1784, were pleased to express
their desire that I should inform them of the peri
ods when each sum of the presents mentioned in my
address of the 22d May, 1782, was received, what
were my motives for withholding the several receipts
from the knowledge of the Council, or of the Court
of Directors, and what were my reasons for taking
bonds for part of these sums, and for paying other
sums into the treasury as deposits on my own account.
I have been kindly apprised that the information
required as above is yet expected from me. I hope
* As the letter referred to in the Eighth and Sixteenth Articles of
Charge is not contained in any of the Appendixes to the Reports of
the Select Committee, it has been thought necessary to annex it as
an Appendix to these Charges.
? ? ? ? 320 ARTICLES OF CHARGE.
that the circumstances of my past situation, when
considered, will plead my excuse for having thus
long withheld it. The fact is, that I was not at the
Presidency when the " Surprise " arrived; and when
I returned to it, my time and attention were so entirely engrossed, to the day of my final departure from it, by a variety of other more important occupations, of
which, Sir, I may safely appeal to your testimony,
grounded on the large portion contributed by myself
of the volumes, which compose our Consultations of
that period, that the. submission which my respect
would have enjoined me to pay to the command
imposed on me was lost to my recollection, perhaps
from the stronger impression which the first and distant perusal of it had left on my mind that it was rather intended as a reprehension for something
which had given. offence inl my report of the original
transaction than as expressive of any want of a further
elucidation of it.
I will now endeavor to reply to the different questions which have been stated to me in as explicit
a manner as I am able. To such information as I
can give the Honorable Court is fully entitled; and
where that shall prove defective, I will point out the
easy means by which it may be rendered more complete.
First, I believe I can affirm with certainty, that the
several sums mentioned in the account transmitted
with my letter above mentioned Were received'at or
within a very few days of the dates which are prefixed
to them in the account; but as this contains only the
gross sums, and each of these was received in different payments, though at no great distance of time, I cannot therefore assign a greater degree of accuracy
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 321
to the account. Perhaps the Honorable Court will
judge this sufficient for any purpose to which their
inquiry was directed; but if it should not be so, I
will beg leave to refer for a more minute information,
and for the means of making any investigation which
they may think it proper to direct, respecting the
particulars of this transaction, to Mr. Larkins, your
Accountant-General, who was privy to every process
of it, and possesses, as I believe, the original paper,
which contained the only account that I ever kept of
it. In this each receipt was, as I recollect, specifically inserted, with the name of the person by whom it
was made; and I shall write to him to desire that he:
will furnish you with the paper itself, if it is still in
being and in his hands, or with whatever he can distinctly recollect concerning it.
For my motives for withholding the several receipts
from the knowledge of the Council, or of the Court of
Directors, and for taking bonds for part of these sums,
and paying others into the treasury as deposits on
my own account, I have generally accounted in my
letter to the Honorable the Court of Directors of the
22d May, 1782: namely, that " I either chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which my memory at that distance of time could verify; and that I did not think
it worth my care to observe the same means with the
rest. " It will not be expected that I should be able
to give a more correct explanation of my intentions
-after a lapse of three years, having declared at the time
that many particulars had escaped my remembrance;
neither shall I attempt to add more than the clearer'
affirmation of the facts implied in that report of.
VOL. IX. 21
? ? ? ? 322 ARTICLES OF CHARGE.
them, and such inferences as necessarily, or with a
strong probability, follow them.
I have said that the three first sums of the account were paid into the Company's treasury without passing through my hands. The second of these
was forced into notice by its destination and application to the expense of a detachment which was
formed and employed against Mahdajee Sindia under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Camac, as
I particularly apprised the Court of Directors in my
letter of the 29th November, 1780. The other two
were certainly not intended, when I received them,
to be made public, though intended for public service, and actually applied to it. The exigencies of
the government were at that time my own, and every
pressure upon it rested with its full weight upon my
mind. Wherever I could find allowable means of
relieving those wants, I eagerly seized them; but
neither could it occur to me as necessary to state on
our Proceedings every little aid which I could thus
procure, nor do I know how I could have stated it,
without appearing to court favor by an ostentation
which I disdain, nor without the chance of exciting
the jealousy of my colleagues by the constructive assertion of a separate and unparticipated merit, derived from the influence of my station, to which they might have laid an equal claim. I should have
deemed it particularly dishonorable to receive for my
own use money tendered by men of a certain class,
frort whom I had interdicted the receipt of presents
to my inferiors, and bound them by oath not to receive them. I was therefore more than ordinarily
cautious to avoid the suspicion of it, which would
scarcely have failed to lighlt upon me, had I suffered
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 323
the money to be brought directly to my own house,
or to that of any person known to be in trust for me:
for these reasons I caused it to be transported immediately to the treasury. There, you well know, Sir,
it could not be received without being passed to some
credit, and this could only be done by entering it as a
loan or as a deposit: the first was the least liable to
reflection, and therefore I had obviously recourse to
it. Why tlie second sum was entered as a deposit
I am utterly ignorant: possibly it was done without
any special direction from me; possibly because it
was the simplest mode of entry, and therefore preferred, as the transaction itself did not require concealment, having been already avowed.
Although I am firmly persuaded that these were my
sentiments on the occasion, yet I will not affirm that
they were. Though I feel their impression as the remains of a series of thoughts retained on my memory,
I am not certain that they may not have been produced by subsequent reflection on the principal fact,
combining with it the probable motives of it. Of this
I am certain, that it was my design originally to
have concealed the receipt of all the sums, except
the second, even from the knowledge of the Court of
Directors. They had answered my purpose of public utility, and I had almost totally dismissed them
from my remembrance. But when fortune threw
a sum in my way of a magnitude which could not
be concealed, and the peculiar delicacy of my situation at the time in which I received it made me
more circumspect of appearances, I chose to apprise my employers of it, which I did hastily and generally: hastily, perhaps to prevent the vigilance and activity of secret calumny;. and generally, because I
? ? ? ? . 324 ARTICLES OF CHARGE.
knew not the exact amount of the sum, of which I
was in the receipt, but not in the full possession.
I promised to acquaint them with the result as soon
as I should be in possession of it, and in the performance of my promise I thought it consistent with it to add to the account all the former appropriations
of the same kind: my good genius then suggesting
to me, with a spirit of caution which might have
spared me the trouble of this apology, had I universally attended to it, that, if I had suppressed
them, and they were afterwards known, I might be
asked what were my motives for withholding part
of these receipts from the knowledge of the Court
of Directors and informing them of the rest.
It being my wish to clear up every doubt upon this
transaction, which either my own mind could suggest
or which may have been suggested by others, I beg
leave to suppose another question, and to state the
terms of it in my reply, by informing you that the
indorsement on the bonds was made about the period
of my leaving the Presidency, in the middle of the
year 1781, in order to guard against their becoming
a claim on the Company, as part of my estate, in the
event of my death occurring in the course of the service on which I was then entering.
This, Sir, is the plain history of the transaction.
I should be ashamed to request that you would communicate it to the Honorable Court of Directors, whose time is too valuable for the intrusion of a subject so uninteresting, but that it is become a point of indispensable duty; I must therefore request the
favor of you to lay it, at a convenient time, before
them. In addressing itto you personally, I yield to
my own feelings of the respect which is due to them
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 325
as a body, and to the assurances which I derive from
your experienced civilities that you will kindly overlook the trouble imposed by it. I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your very humble and most obedient servant,
(Signed) WARREN HASTINGS.
CHELTENHAM, 11 July, 1785.
as a breach of treaty could only be answered by charging a prior breach of treaty on Fyzoola Khan, so by annulling the whole treaty to reduce the question to
a mere question of force, and thus " oblige Fyzoola
Khan to send the five thousand horse": "for," (continues the Vizier,) "'if, when the Company's affairs,
on which my honor depends, require it, Fyzoola Khan
will not lend his assistance, what USE is there to continue the country to him? "
That the Vizier actually did -make his application
to Fyzoola Kh'an for the five thousand horse, not as
for an aid to which he had a just claim, but as for
something over and above the obligations of the treaty, something "that would give increase to their friendship and satisfaction to the Nabob Governor,"
(meaning the said Hastings,) whose directions he
represents as the motive " of his call for the five thousand horse to be employed," not in his, the Vizier's, "but in the Company's service. "
And that the aforesaid Warren Hastings did, therefore, in recording the answer of Fyzoola Khan as an evasion of treaty, act in notorious contradiction not
only to that which ought to have been the fair construction of the said treaty, but to that which he, the said Hastings, must have known to be the Vizier's
own interpretation of the same, disposed as the Vizier
was " to reproach Fyzoola Khan with breach of treaty," and to " send up persons who should settle points with him. "
V. That the said Warren Hastings, not thinking
himself justified, on the mere plea of an evasion, to
push forward his proceedings to that extremity which
he seems already to have made his scope and object,
? ? ? ? 292 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
and seeking some better color for his unjust and violent purposes, did further move, that commissioners should be sent from the Vizier and the Company to
Fyzoola Khan, to insist on a clause of a treaty which
nowhere appears, being essentially different from the
treaty of Lall-Dang, though not in the part on which
the requisition is founded; and the said Hastings did
then, in a style unusually imperative, proceed as follows.
" Demand immediate delivery of three thousand cavalry; and if he should evade or refuse compliance, that the deputies shall deliver him a formal protest against
him for breach of treaty, and return, making this report to the Vizier, which Mr. Middleton is to transmit
to the board. "
VI. That the said motion of the Governor-General,
Hastings, was ordered accordingly, -- the Council, as
already has been herein related, consisting but of two
members, and the said Hastings consequently " uniting in his own person all the powers of government. " VII. That, when the said Hastings ordered the
said demand for three thousand cavalry, he, the said
Hastings, well knew that a compliance therewith, on
the part of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, was utterly impossible: for he, the said Hastings, had at the very moment before him a letter of Fyzoola Khan, stating,
that he, Fyzoola Khan, had " but two thousand cavalry" altogether; which letter is entered on the records of the Company, in the same Consultation, immediately preceding the Governor-General's minute. That the said Hastings, therefore, knew that the only possible consequence of the aforesaid demand necessarily
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 293
and inevitably must be a protest for a breach of treaty; and the Court of Directors did not hesitate to declare that the said demand "carried the appearance of a determination to create a pretext for depriving
him [Fyzoola KIhan] of his jaghire entirely, or to
leave him at the mercy of the Vizier. "
VIII. That Richard Johnson, Esquire, Assistant
Resident at Oude, was, agreeably to the:afore-mentioned order of Council, deputed commissioner from
Mr. Middleton and the Vizier to Fyzoola Khan; but
that he did early give the most indecent proofs of
glaring partiality, to the prejudice of the said Fyzoola
Khan: for that the very next day (as it seems) after
his arrival, he, the said Johnson, from opinions imbibed in his journey, did state himself to be " unwilling to draw any favorable or flattering inferences relatively to the object of his mission," and did studiously seek to find new breaches of treaty, and, without
any form of regular inquiry whatever, from a single
glance of his eye in passing, did take upon himself to
pronounce "the Rohilla soldiers, in the district of
Rampoor alone, to be not less than twenty thousand,"
and the grant of course to be forfeited. And that
such a gross and palpable display of a predetermination to discover guilt did argue in the said Johnson
a knowledge, a strong presumption, or a belief, that
such representations would be agreeable to the secret
wishes and views of the said Hastings, under whose
orders he, the said Johnson, acted, and to whom all
his reports were to be referred.
IX. That the said Richard Johnson did soon after proceed to the immediate object of his mission,
? ? ? ? 294 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
" which" (the said Johnson relates) 1" was short to a
degree. " The demand was made, and " a flat refusal" given. The question was repeated, with like
effect. The said Johnson, in presence of proper
witnesses, then drew up his protest, "together with
a memorandum of a palliative offer made by the Nabob Fyzoola Khan," and inserted in the protest:" That he would, in compliance with the demand, and in conformity to the treaty, which specified no
definite number of cavalry or infantry, only expressing
troops, furnish three thousand men: viz. , he would,
in addition to the one thousand cavalry already granted, give one thousand more, when and wheresoever
required, and one thousand foot," -together with
one year's pay in advance, and funds for the regular
payment of them in future.
And this, the said Richard Johnson observes, "I
put down at his [the Nabob Fyzoola Khan's] particular desire, but otherwise useless; as my orders"
(which orders do not appear) "' were, not to receive any
palliation, but a negative or affirmative": though such
palliation, as it is called by the said Johnson, might
be, as it was, in the strictest conformity to the treaty.
X. That in the said offer the Nabob Fyzoola Khan,
instead of palliating, did at once admit the extreme
right of the Vizier under the treaty, by agreeing to
furnish three thousand men, when he, Fyzoola Khan,
would have been justified in pleading his inability to
send more than two thousand; that such inability
would not (as appears) have been a false and evasive plea, but perfectly true and valid, -- as the three
thousand foot maintained by Fyzoola Khan were for
the purposes of his internal government, for which the
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 295
whole three thousand must have been demonstrably
necessary; and that the Nabob Fyzoola Kha'n, by declining to avail himself of a plea so fair, so well founded, and so consonant to the indulgence expressly acknowledged in the treaty, and by thus meeting the specific demand of the Vizier as fully as, according to
his own military establishment, he could, did for the
said offer deserve rather the thanks of the said Vizier
and the Company than the protest which the aforesaid
Johnson, under the orders of Warren Hastings, did
deliver.
XI. That the report of the said protest, as well as
the former letter of the said Johnson, were by thie
Resident, Middleton, transmitted to the board, together with a letter from the Vizier, founded on the said
report and letter of the said Johnson, and proposing
in consequence "to resume the grant, and to leave
Fyzoola Khllan to join his other faithless brethren who
were sent across the Ganges. "
That the said papers were read in Council on the
4th of June, 1781, when the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, did move and carry a vote to suspend a
final resolution on the same: and the said Hastings
did not express any disapprobation of the proceedings
of the said Johnson; neither did the said EHastings
assign any reasons for his motion of suspension, which
passed without debate. That in truth the said Hastings had then projected a journey up the country to
meet the Vizier for the settlement of articles relative
to the regulation of Oude and its dependencies, among
which was included the jaghire of Fyzoola Klen; and
the said Hastings, for the aforesaid purposes, did, on
the 3d of July, by his own casting vote, grant to him
? ? ? ? 296 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
self, and did prevail on his colleague, Edward Wheler, Esquire, to grant, a certain illegal delegation of
the whole powers of the Governor-General and Council, and on the seventh of the same month did proceed
on his way to join the Vizier at a place called Chunar,
on the borders of Benares; and that the aforesaid.
vote of suspending a final resolution on the transactions with Fyzoola Khan was therefore in substance
and effect a reference thereof by the said Hastings
from himself in council with his colleague, Wheler,
to himself in conference and negotiation with the Vizier, who, from the first demand of the five thousand
horse, had taken every occasion of showing his incli.
nation to dispossess Fyzoola Khaln, and who before
the said demand (in a letter which does not appear,
but which the Vizier himself quotes as antecedent to
the said demand) had complained to the said Hastings
of the "' injury and irregularity in the management
of the provinces bordering on Rampoor, arising from
Fyzoola Khan having the uncontrolled dominion of
that district. "
PART VI.
TREATY OF CHUNAR.
I. THAT the Governor-General, Warren Hastings,
being vested with the illegal powers before recited,
did, on the 19th of September, 1781, enter into a
treaty with the Vizier at Chunar, - which treaty (as
the said Hastings relates) was drawn up "from a series of requisitions presented to him [the said Hastings] by the Vizier," and by him received "with an instant and unqualified assent to each article"; and
that the said Hastings assigns his reasons for such
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 297
ready assent in the following words: "I considered
the subjects of his [the Vizier's] requests as essential
to the reputation of our government, and no less to
our interest than his. "
II. That in the said treaty of Chunar the third
article is as follows.
" That, as Fyzoola Khan has by his breach of treaty
forfeited the protection of the English government,
and causes by his continuance in his present independent state great alarm and detriment to the Nabob Vizier, he be permitted, when time shall suit, to resume his lands, and pay him in money, through the
Resident, the amount stipulated by treaty, after deducting the amount and charges of the troops he
stands engaged to furnish by treaty; which amount
shall be passed to the account of the Company during the continuance of the present war. "
III. That, for the better elucidation of his policy
ill the several articles of the treaty above mentioned,
the said Hastings did send to the Council of Calcutta
(now consisting of Edward Wheler and John Macpherson, Esquires) two different copies of the said
treaty, with explanatory minutes opposed to each
article; and that the minute opposed to the third
article is thus expressed.
"The conduct of Fyzoola Khan, in refusing the
aid demanded, though (1. ) not an absolute breach of
treaty, was evasive and uncandid. (2. ) The demand
was made for five thousand cavalry. (3. ) The engagement in the treaty is literally for five thousand horse and
foot. Fyzoola Khan could not be ignorant that we
had no occasion for any succors of infantry from him,
? ? ? ? 298 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
and that cavalry would be of the most essential service. (4. ) So scrupulous an attention to literal expression, when a more liberal interpretation would have been highly useful and acceptable to us, strongly marks his
unfriendly disposition, though it may not impeach his fidelity, and leaves him little claim to any exertions from
us for the continuance of his jaghires. But (5. ) Iam
of opinion that neither the Vizier's nor the Company's
interests would be promoted by depriving Eyzoola Khdn
of his independency, and I have (6. ) therefore reserved
the execution of this agreement to an indefinite term;
and ourgovernment may always interpose to prevent any
ill efects from it. "
IV. That, ili his aforesaid authentic evidence of his
own purposes, motives, and principles, inl the third article of the treaty of Chunar, the said Hastings hath
established divers matters of weighty and serious
crimination against himself.
1st. That the -said Hastings doth acknowledge
therein, that he did, in a public instrument, solemnly
recognize, " as a breach of treaty," and as such did
subject to the consequent penalties, an act which he,
the said Hastings, did at the same time think, and
did immediately declare, to be " no breach of treaty ";
and by so falsely and unjustly proceeding against a
person under the Company's guaranty, the said Hastilngs, on his own confession, did himself break the
faith of the said guaranty.
2d. That, in justifying this breach of the Company's faith, the said Hastings doth wholly abandon
his second peremptory demand for the three thousand
horse, and the protest consequent thereon; and the
said Hastings doth thereby himself condemn the violence and injustice of the same.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 299
3dly. That, in recurring to the original demand of
five thousand horse as the ground of his justification,
the said Hastings doth falsely assert " the engagement
in the treaty to be literally FIVE thousand horse and
foot," whereas it is in fact for TWO or THREE thousand
men; and the said Hastings doth thereby wilfully
attempt to deceive and mislead his employers, which
is an high crime and misdemeanor in a servant of so
great trust.
4thly. That, with a view to his further justification, the said Hastings doth advance a principle that
"'a scrupulous attention to the literal expression" of
a guarantied treaty "leaves" to the person so observing the same "but little claim to the exertions"
of a guaranty on his behalf; that such a principle
is utterly subversive of all faith of guaranties, and is
therefore highly crniminal in the first executive member of a government that must necessarily stand in
that mutual relation to many.
5thly. That the said Hastings doth profess his
opinion of an article to which he gave an" instant and
unqualified assent," that it was a measure " by which
neither the TVizier's nor the Company's interests would
be promoted," but from which, without some interposition, " ill effects " must be expected; and that the said
Hastings doth thereby charge himself with a high
breach of trust towards his employers.
6thly. That the said Hastings having thus confessed that consciously and wilfully (from what motives he hath not chosen to confess) he did give his
formal sanction to a measure both of injustice and
impolicy, he, the said Hastings, doth urge in his defence, that he did at the' same time insert words " reserving the execution of the said agreement to an in
? ? ? ? 800 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
definite term," with an intent that it might in truth
be never executed at all, -but that "our government
might always interpose," without right, by means of
an indirect and undue influence, to prevent the ill
effects following from a collusive surrender of a clear
and authorized right to interpose; and the said Hastings doth thereby declare himself to have introduced
a principle of duplicity, deceit, and double-dealing into a public engagement, which ought in its essence to
be clear, open, and explicit; that such a declaration
tends to shake and overthrow the confidence of all in
the most solemn instruments of any person so declaring, and is therefore an high crime and misdemeanor
in the first executive member of government, by whom
all treaties and other engagements of the state are
principally to be conducted.
V. That, by the explanatory minute aforesaid, the
said Warren Hastings doth further, in the most direct
manner, contradict his own assertions in the very letter which inclosed the said minute to his colleagues;
for that one of the articles to which he there gave
" an instant and unqualified assent, as no less to our interest than to the Vizier's," he doth here declare unequivocally to be neither to our interests nor the Vizier's; and the " unqualified assent " given to the said article is now so qualified as wholly to defeat itself.
That by such irreconcilable contradictions the said
Hastings doth incur the suspicion of much criminal
misrepresentation in other like cases of unwitnessed
conferences; and in the present instance (as far as it
extends) the said Hastings doth prove himself to have
given an account both of his actions and motives by
his own confession untrue, for the purpose of deceiv
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN EASTINGS. 301
ing his employers, which is an high crime and misdemeanor in a servant of so great trust.
VI. That the said third article of the treaty of
Chunar, as it thus stands explained by the said Hastings himself, doth on the whole appear designed to hold the protection of the Company in suspense; that
it acknowledges all right of interference to cease,
but leaves it to our discretion to determine when it
will suit our conveniency to give the Vizier the liberty of acting on the principles by us already admitted; that it is dexterously constructed to balance the desires of one man, rapacious and profuse, against the fears of another, described as "of extreme pusillanimity and wealthy," but that, whatever may have been the secret objects of the artifice and intrigue
confessed to form its very essence, it must on the
very face of it necessarily implicate the Company in
a breach of faith, whichever might be the event, as
they must equally break their faith either by with
drawing their guaranty unjustly or by continuing
that guaranty in contradiction to this treaty of Chunar; that it thus tends to hold out to India, and
to the whole world, that the public principle of the
English government is a deliberate system of injustice joined with falsehood, of impolicy, of bad faith, and treachery; and that the said article is therefore
in the highest degree derogatory to the honor, and
injurious to the interests of this nation.
? ? ? ? 302 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
PART VII.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE TREATY OF CHUNAR.
I. THAT, in consequence of the treaty of Chunar,
the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, did send official instructions respecting the various articles of the said treaty to the said Resident, Middleton; and
that, in a postscript, the said Hastings did forbid the
resumption of the Nabob Fyzoola KhAn's jaghire,
"until circumstances may render it more expedient
and easy to be attempted than the present more
material pursuits of government make it appear":
thereby intimating a positive limitation of the indefinite term in the explanatory minute above recited, and confining the suspension of the article to the
pressure of the war.
II. That, soon after the date of the said instructions,
and within two months of the signature of the treaty
of Chunar, the said Hastings did cause Sir Elijah Impey, Knight, his Majesty's chief-justice at Fort William, to discredit the justice of the crown of Great Britain by making him the channel of unwarrantable communication, and did, through the said Sir
Elijah, signify to the Resident, Middleton, his, the
said Hastings's, "approbation of a subsidy from Fyzoola Khan. "
III. That the Resident, in answer, represents the
proper equivalent for two thousand horse and one
thousand foot (the forces offered to Mr. Johnson by
Fyzoola Khan) to be twelve lacs, or 120,0001. sterling
and upwards, each year; which the said Resident
supposes is considerably beyond what he, Fyzoola
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 303
Khan, will voluntarily pay: "however, if it is your
wish that the claim should be made, I am ready to
take it up, and you may be assured nothing in my
power shall be left undone to carry it through. "
IV. That the reply of the said Hastings doth not
appear; but that it does appear on record that " a
negotiation" ( Mr. Johlson's) "was begun for Fyzoola Khan's cavalry to act with General Goddard, and,
on his [Fyzoola Khan's] evading it, that a sum of
money was demanded. "
V. That, ill the months of February, March, and
April, the Resident, Middleton, did repeatedly propose the resumption of Fyzoola Khlian's jaghire, agreeably to the treaty of Chunar; and that, driven to extremity (as the said Hastings supposes) "by the public menaces and denunciations of the Resident and minister," Hyder Beg Khan, a creature of the said
Hastings, and both the minister and Resident acting
professedly on and under the treaty of Chunar, " the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan made such preparations, and
such a disposition of his family and wealth, as evidently manifested either an intended or an expected
rupture. "
VI. That on the 6th of May the said Hastings did
send his confidential agent and friend, Major Palmer,
on a private commission to Lucknow; and that the
said Palmer was charged with secret instructions relative to Fyzoola Khan, but of what import cannot be
ascertained, the said Hastings in his public instructions having inserted only the name of Fyzoola Khan,
as a mere reference (according to the explanation of
? ? ? ? 304 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the said Hastings) to what he had verbally communicated to the said Palmer; and that the said Hastings was thereby guilty of a criminal concealment.
VII. That some time about the month of August
an engagement happened between a body of Fyzoola
Kha'n's cavalry and a part of the Vizier's army, in
which the latter were beaten, and their guns taken;
that the Resident, Middleton, did represent the same
but as a slight and accidental affray; that it was acknowledged the troops of the Vizier were the aggressors; that it did appear to the board, and to the said
Hastings himself, an affair of more considerable magnitude; and that they did make the concealment thereof an article of charge against the Resident, Middleton, though the said Resident did in truth acquaint them with the same, but in a cursory manner.
VIII. That, immediately after the said " fray " at
Daranagur, the Vizier (who was " but a cipher in the
hands" of the minister and the Resident, both of
them directly appointed and supported by the said
Hastings) did make of Fyzoola Khan a new demand,
equally contrary to the true intent and meaning of
the treaty as his former requisitions: which new deL
mand was for the detachment in garrison at Daranagur to be cantoned as a stationary force at Lucknow,
the capital of the Vizier; whereas he, the Vizier, had
only a right to demand an occasional aid to join his
army in the field or in garrison during a war. But
the said new demand being evaded, or rather refused,
agreeably to the fair construction of the treaty, by
the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, the matter was for the present dropped.
? ? ? ? A(GAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 30. 5
IX. That in the letter in which the Resident, Middleton, did mention "what he calls the fray " aforesaid, the said Middleton did again apply for the resumption of the jaghire of Rampoor; and that, the objections against the measure being now removed,
(by the separate peace with Sindia,) he desired to
know if the board " would give assurances of their
support to the Vizier, in case, which" (says the Resident) "I think -very probable, his [the Vizier's] own
strength should befound unequal to the undertaking. "
X. That, although the said Warren Hastings did
make the foregoing application a new charge against
the Resident, Middleton, yet the said Hastings did
only criminate the said Middleton for a proposal tending " at such a crisis to increase the number of our
enemies," and did in no degree, either in his articles
of charge or in his accompanying minutes, express
any disapprobation whatever of the principle; that,
in truth, the whole proceedings of the said Resident
were the natural result of the treaty of Chunar; that
the said proceedings were from time to time communicated to the said Hastings; that, as he nowhere
charges any disobedience of orders on Mr. Middleton
with respect to Fyzoola Khan, it may be justly inferred that the said Hastings did not interfere to
check the proceedings of the said Middleton on that
subject; and that by such criminal neglect the said
Hastings did make:the guilt of the said Middleton,.
whatever it might be, his own.
VOL. I2X. 20
? ? ? ? 206 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
PART VIII.
PECUNIARY COMMUTATION OF THE STIPULATED AID.
I. THAT on the charges and for the misdemeanors
above specified, together with divers other accusations, the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, ir.
September, 1782, did remove the aforesaid Middleton
from his office of Resident at Oude, and did appoint
thereto John Bristow, Esquire, whom he had twice
before, without cause, recalled from the same; and
that about the same time the said Hastings did believe the mind of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan. to be so
irritated, in consequence of the above-recited conduct
of the late Resident, Middleton, and of his, the said
HIastings's, own criminal neglect, that he, the said
Hastings, found it necessary to write to Fyzoola
Khan, assuring him'" of the favorable disposition of
the government toward him, while he shall not have
forfeited it by any improper conduct"; but that the
said assurances of the Governor-General did not tend,
-as soon after appeared, to raise much confidence in
-the Nabob, over whom a public instrument of the
same Hastings was still holding the terrors of a deprivation of his jaghire, and an exile " among his oth-. er faithless brethren across the Ganges. " II. That, on the subject of Fyzoola Khan, the said
Hastings, in his instructions to the new Resident,
Bristow, did leave him to be guided by his own
discretion; but he adds, " Be careful to prevent the
Vizier's affairs from being involved with new difficulties, while he has already so many to oppress him":
thereby plainly hinting at some more decisive measures, whenever the Vizier should be less oppressed
with difficulties.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 307
III. That the Resident, Bristow, after acquainting
the Governor-General with his intentions, did under
the said instructions renew the aforesaid claim for a
sum of money, but with much caution and circumspection, distantly sounding Allif Khan, the vakeel
(or envoy) of Fyzoola Khan at the court of the
Vizier; that " Allif Khan wrote to his master on the
subject, and in answer he was directed not to agree
to the granting of any pecuniary aid. "
IV. That the Resident, Bristow, did then openly
depute Major Palmer: aforesaid, with the concurrence
of the Vizier, and the approbation of the GovernorGeneral, to the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, at Rampoor;
and that the said Palmer was to " endeavor to convince the Nabob that all doubts of his attachment to the Vizier are ceased, and whatever claims may be made
on him are founded upon the basis of his interest and
advantage and a plan of establishing his right to the
possession of his jaghire. " That the sudden ceasing
of the said doubts, without any inquiry of the slightest kind, doth warrant a strong presumption of the Resident's conviction that they never really existed,
but were artfully feigned, as a pretence for some
harsh interposition; and that the indecent mockery
of establishing, as a matter of favor, for a pecuniary
consideration, rights which were never impeached
but by the treaty of Chunar, (an instrument recorded
by Warren Hastings himself to be founded on falsehood and injustice,) doth powerfully prove the true purpose and object of all the duplicity, deceit, and
double-dealing with which that treaty was projected
and executed.
? ? ? ? 308 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
V. That the said Palmer was instructed by the
Resident, Bristow, with the subsequent approbation
of the Governor-General, "'-to obtain from Fyzoola
Khan an annual, tribute"; to which the Resident
adds, -" If you can procure from him, over and above
this, a peshcush [or fine] of at least five lacs, it would
be rendering an essential service to the Vizier, and
add to the confidence his -Excellency would hereafter
repose in the attachment of the Nabob Fyzoola Khdn. "
And that the said Governor-General, Hastings, did
give the following extraordinary ground of calculation, as the basis of the said Palmer's negotiation for
the annual tribute aforesaid.
" It was certainly understood, at the time the treaty
was concluded, (of which this stipulation was a part,)
that it applied solely to cavalry: as the Nabob Vizier,
possessing the service of our forces, could not possibly
require infantry, and least of all such infantry as Fyzoola Khan could furnish; and a single horseman included in the aid which Eyzoola Khdn might furnish would prove a literal compliance with the said stipulation. The number, therefore, of horse implied by it
ought at least to be ascertained: we will supposefive
thousand, and, allowing the exigency for their attendance to exist only in the proportion of one year in five,
reduce the demand to one thousand for the computation of the subsidy, which, at the rate of fifty rupees
per man, will amount to fifty thousand per mensem.
This may serve for the basis of this article in the negotiation upon it. "
VI. That the said Warren Hastings doth then continue to instruct the said Palmer in the alternative
of a refusal from Fyzoola Khan. "If Fyzoola Khan
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 309
shall refuse to treat for a subsidy, and claim the benefit of his original agreement in its literal expression, he possesses a right which we cannot dispute, and it
will in that case remain only to fix the precise number of horse which he shall furnish, which ought at least to exceed twenty-five hundred. "
VII. That, in the above-recited instruction, the
said Warren. Hastings doth insinuate (for he doth not
directly assert), --
1st. That we are entitled by treaty to five thousand
troops, which he says were undoubtedly intended to
be all cavalry.
2d. That the said Hastings doth then admit that
a single horseman, included in the aid furnished by
Fyzoola Kha'n, would prove a literal compliance.
3d. That the said Hastings doth next resort again
to the supposition of our right to the whole five thousand cavalry.
4th. That the said Hastings doth afterwards think,
in the event of an explanation of the treaty, and a
settlement of the proportion of cavalry, instead of a
pecuniary commutation, it will be all we can demand
that the number should at least exceed twenty-five hundred.
5th. That the said Hastings doth, in calculating
the supposed time of their service, assume an arbitrary
estimate of one year of war to four of peace; which
( however moderate the calculation may appear on the
average of the said Hastings's own government) doth
involve a principle in a considerable degree repugnant to the system of perfect peace inculcated in the: standing orders of the Company.
6th. That, in estimating the pay of the cavalry to
? ? ? ? 3810 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
be commuted, the said Hastings doth fix the pay of
each man at fifty rupees a month; which on five
thousand troops, all cavalry, (as the said Hastings
supposes the treaty of Lall-Dang to have meant,)
would amount to an expense of thirty lacs a year, or
between 300,0001. or 400,0001. And this expense,
strictly resulting (according to the calculations of the
said Hastings) from the intention of Sujah ul Dowlah's
grant to Fyzoola Khan, was designed to be supported
out of a jaghire valued at fifteen lacs only, or something more than 150,0001. of yearly revenue, just half the amount of the expense to be incurred in consideration of the said jaghire.
And that a basis of negotiation so inconsistent, so
arbitrary, and so unjust is contrary to that uprightness
and integrity which should mark the transactions of
a great state, and is highly derogatory to the honor
of this nation.
VIII. That, notwithstanding the seeming moderation and justice of the said Hastings in admitting the clear and undoubted right of Fyzoola Khanl to insist
on his treaty, the head of instruction immediately
succeeding doth afford just reason for a violent presumption that such apparent lenity was but policy, to give a color to his conduct: he, the said Hastings, in
the very next paragraph, bringing forth a new engine
of oppression, as follows.
"To demand the surrender of all the ryots [or
peasants] of the Nabob Vizier's dominions to whom
Fyzoola has given protection and service, or an annual
tribute in compensation for the loss sustained by the Nabob
Vizier in his revenue thus transferred to ]Fiyzoola KXhn.
"You have stated the increase of his jaghire, occa
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 811
sioned by this act, at the moderate sum of fifteen lacs.
Tie tribute ought at least to be one third of that amount.
"We conceive that Fyzoola Khan himself may be
disposed to yield to the preceding demand, on the additional condition of being allowed to hold his lands in ultumgaw [or an inheritable tenure] instead of his
present tenure by jaghire [or a tenure for life]. This
we think the Vizier can have no objection to grant,
and we recommend it; but for this a fine, or peshcush,
ought to be immediately paid, in the customary proportion
of the jumma, estimated at thirty lacs. "
IX. That the Resident, Bristow, (to whom the letter
containing Major Palmer's instructions is addressed,)
nowhere attributes the increase of Fyzoola Khan's
revenues to this protection of the fugitive ryots, subjects of the Vizier; that the said Warren Hastings was, therefore, not warranted to make that a pretext
of such a peremptory demand. That, as an inducement to make Fyzoola Khan agree to the said demand, it is offered to settle his lands upon a tenure which
would secure them to his children; but that settlement
is to bring with it a new demand of a fine of thirty
lacs, or 300,0001. and upwards; that the principles
of the said demand are violent and despotic, and the
inducement to acquiescence deceitful and insidious;
and that both the demand and the inducement are
derogatory to the honor of this nation.
X. That Major Palmer aforesaid proceeded under
these instructions to Rampoor, where his journey " to
extort a sum of money" was previously known from
Allif Khan, vakeel of Fyzoola Khan at the Vizier's
court; and that, notwithstanding the assurances of
? ? ? ? 312 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the friendly disposition of government given by the
said Hastings, (as is herein related,) the Nabob Fyzoola Khan did express the most serious and desponding apprehensions, both by letter and through his vakeel, to the Resident, Bristow, who represents them to Major Palmer in the following manner.
"The Nabob Fyzoola Khan complains of the distresses he has this year suffered from the drought.
The whole collections have, with great management,
amounted to about twelve lacs of rupees, from which
sum he has to support his troops, his family, and
several relations and dependants of the late Rohilla
chiefs. He says, it clearly appears to be intended to
deprive him of his country, as the high demand you have
made of him is inadmissible. Should he have assented
to it, it would be impossible to perform the conditions,
and then his reputation would be injured by a breach
of agreement. Allif Khdn further represents, that it
is his master's intention, in case the demand should not
be relinquished by you, first to proceed to Lucknow, where
he proposes having an interview with the Vizier and the
Resident; if he should not be able to obtain his own
terms. for a future possession of his jaghire, he will set
off for Cbalcutta in order to pray for justice from the
Honorable the Governor-General. He observes, it is
the custom of the Honorable Company, when they
deprive a chief of his country, to grant him some
allowance. This he expects from Mr. Hastings's
bounty; but if he should be disappointed, he will certainly set off upon a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina,
and renounce the cares of the world. - He directs his
vakeel to ascertain whether the English intend to deprive him of his country; for if they do, he is ready
to surrender it, upon receiving an order from the
Resident. "
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 313
XI. That, after much negotiation, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, " being fully sensible that an engagement
to furnish military aid, however clearly the conditions
might be stated, must be a source of perpetual misunderstanding and inconveniencies," did at length agree with Major Palmer to give fifteen lacs, or 150,0001. and
upwards, by four instalments, that he might be exempted from all future claims of military service;
that the said Palmer represents it to be his belief,
"that no person, not known to possess your [the said
HETastings's] confidence and support in the degree that
lam supposed to do, would have obtained nearly so
good terms"; but from what motive "terms so
good" were granted, and how the confidence and
support of the said Hastings did truly operate on the
mind of Fyzoola KhIn, doth appear to be better explained by another passage in the same letter, where
the said Palmer congratulates himself on the satisfaction which he gave to Pyzoola Khdn in the conduct of
this negotiation, as he spent a month in order to effect " by argument and persuasion what he could have obtained in an hotr by threats and compulsions. "
PART IX.
FULL VINDICATION OF FYZOOLA KHAN BY MAJOR PALMER
AND MR. HASTINGS.
I. THAT, in the course of the said negotiation for
establishing the rights of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan,
Major Palmer aforesaid did communicate to the Resident, Bristow, and through the said Resident to the Council-General of Bengal, the full and direct denial
of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan to all and every of the
charges made or pretended to be made against him,
as follows.
? ? ? ? 314 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
" Fyzoola Khan persists in denying the infringement
on his part of any one article in the treaty, or the
neglect of any obligation which it imposed upon him.
"He does not admit of the improvements reported to
be made in his jaghire, and even asserts that the collections this year will fall short of the original jumma [or estimate] by reason of the long drought.
"He denies having exceeded the limited number
of Rohillas in his service;
"And having refused the required aid of cavalry,
made by Johnson, to act with General Goddard.
"'He observes, respecting the charge of evading the
Vizier's requisition for the cavalry lately stationed at
Daranagur, to be stationed at Lucknow, that he is
not bound by treaty to maintain a stationary force
for the service of the Vizier, but to supply an aid of
two or three thousand troops in time of war.
" Lastly, he asserts, that, so far from encouraging
the ryots [or peasants] of the Vizier to settle in his
jaghire, it has been his constant *practice to deliver
them up to the Aumil of Rohilcund, whenever he
could discover them. "
II. That, in giving his opinions on the aforesaid
denials of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, the said Palmer
did not controvert any one of the constructions of the
treaty advanced by the said Nabob.
That, although the said Palmer, "from general appearances as well as universal report, did not doubt that the jlunma of the jaghire is greatly increased,"
yet he, the said Palmer, did not intimate that it was
increased in any degree near the amount reported, as
it was drawn out in a regular estimate transmitted to
the said Palmer expressly for the purposes of his nego
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 315
tiation, which was of course by him produced to the
Nabob Fyzoola Khnll, and to which specifically the denial of Fyzoola Kha'n must be understood to apply. That the said Palmer did not hint any doubt of
the deficiency affirmed by Fyzoola Khaln in the collections for the current year: and,
That, if any increase of jumma did truly exist,
whatever it may have been, the said Palmer did acknowledge it "to have been solemnly relinquished (in a private agreement) by the Vizier. "
That, although the said Palmer did suppose the
number of Rohillas (employed "in ordinary occupations) in Rampoor alone to exceed that limited
by the treaty for his [Fyzoola Khan's] service," yet
the said Palmer did by no means imply that the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan maintained in his service a
single man more than was allowed by treaty; and
by a particular and minute account of the troops
of Fyzoola KhAn, transmitted by the Resident, Bristow, to the said Palmer, the number was stated but at 5,840, probably including officers, who were not
understood to be comprehended in the treaty.
That the said Palmer did further admit it "to be
not clearly expressed in the treaty, whether the restriction included Rohillas of all descriptions "; but,
at any rate, he adds, " it does not appear that their
number is formidable, or that he [Fyzoola Khan]
could by any means subsist such numbers as could
cause any serious alarm to the Vizier; neither is there
any appearance of their entertaining any views beyond the quiet possession of the advantages which they at present enjoy. "
And that, in a subsequent letter, in which the
said Palmer thought it prudent " to vindicate him
? ? ? ? 316 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
self from any possible insinuation that he meant to
sacrifice the Vizier's interest," he, the said Palmer,
did positively attest, the new claim on Fyzoola KhAn
for tihe protection of the Vizier's ryots to be wholly
without foundation, as the Nabob Fyzoola Khan
" had proved to him [Palmer], by producing receipts
of various dates and for great numbers of these people surrendered upon requisition from the Vizier's officers. "
III. That, over and above the aforesaid complete
refutation of the different charges and pretexts under
which exactions had been practised, or attempted to
be practised, on the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, the said
Palmer did further condemn altogether the principle
of calculation assumed in such exactions (even if
they had been founded in justice) by the following
explanation of the nature of the tenure by which,
under the treaty of Lall-Dang, the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan held his possessions as a jaghiredar.
"There are no precedents in the ancient usage
of the country for ascertaining the nuzzerana [customary present] or peshcush [regular fine] of grants of this nature: they were bestowed by the prince as
rewards or favors; and the accustomary present in
return was adapted to the dignity of the donor rather than to the value of the gift, - to which it never, I believe, bore any kind of proportion. "
IV. That a sum of money ('"which of course
was to be received by the Company") being now
obtained, and the " interests both of the Company and
the Vizier" being thus much " better promoted" by
" establishing the rights" of Fyzoola Khan than they
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 317
could have been by " depriving him of his independency," when every undue influence of secret and
criminal purposes was removed from the mind of
the GQovernor-General, Warref Hastings, Esquire, he,
the said Hastings, did also concur with his friend and
agent, Major Palmer, in the vindication of the Nabob
Fyzoola Khan, and in the most ample manner.
That the said Warren Hastings did now clearly
and explicitly understand the clauses of the treaty,
" that Fyzoola Khan should send two or three [and
not five] thousand men, or attend in person, in case
it was requisite. "
That the said Warren Hastings did now confess
that the right of the Vizier under the treaty was
At best' but a precarious and unserviceable right;
and that he thought fifteen lacs, or 150,0001. and
upwards, an ample equivalent," (or, according to
the expression of Major Palmer, an excellent bargain,) as in truth it was, " for expunging an article
of such a tenor and so loosely worded. "
And, finally, that the said Hastings did give the
following description of the general character, disposition, and circumstances of the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan.
"The rumors which had been spread of his hostile designs against the Vizier were totally groundless, and if he had been inclined, he had not the means to make himself formidable; on the contrary, being in the decline of life, and possessing a very
fertile and prosperous jaghire, it is more natural
to suppose that Fyzoola Khan wishes to spend the
remainder of his days in quietness than that he is
preparing to embark in active and offensive scenes
which must end in his own destruction. "
? ? ? ? 818, ARTICLES OF CHARGE.
V. Yet that, notwithstanding this virtual and im
plied crimination of his whole conduct toward the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan, and after all the aforesaid acts
systematically prosecuted in open violation' of a positive treaty against a prince who had an hereditary right to more than he actually possessed, for whose
protection the faith of the Company and the nationi
was repeatedly pledged, and who had deserved and
obtained the public thanks of the British government, - when, iii allusion to certain of the said acts,
the Court of Directors had expressed to the said
Hastings their' wishes " to be considered rather as
the guardians of the honor and property of the native powers than as the instruments of oppression," he, the said Hastings, in reply to the said Directors,
his masters, did conclude his official account of the
final settlement with Fyzoola Khan with the following
indecent, because unjust, exultation: -
" Such are the measures which we shall ever wish
to observe towards our allies or dependants upon our
frontiers. "
? ? ? ? APPENDIX
TO THE
EIGHTH AND SIXTEENTH CHARGES. *
Copy of a Letter from Warren Hastings, Esquire, to William Devaynes, Esquire, Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, dated: Cheltenham, 11th of July, 1785, and printed by order of the House
of Commons.
To William Devaynes, Esquire, Chairman of the Honorable the Court of Directors.
SIR, - The Honorable Court of Directors, in their
general letter to Bengal by the "Surprise," dated the 16th March, 1784, were pleased to express
their desire that I should inform them of the peri
ods when each sum of the presents mentioned in my
address of the 22d May, 1782, was received, what
were my motives for withholding the several receipts
from the knowledge of the Council, or of the Court
of Directors, and what were my reasons for taking
bonds for part of these sums, and for paying other
sums into the treasury as deposits on my own account.
I have been kindly apprised that the information
required as above is yet expected from me. I hope
* As the letter referred to in the Eighth and Sixteenth Articles of
Charge is not contained in any of the Appendixes to the Reports of
the Select Committee, it has been thought necessary to annex it as
an Appendix to these Charges.
? ? ? ? 320 ARTICLES OF CHARGE.
that the circumstances of my past situation, when
considered, will plead my excuse for having thus
long withheld it. The fact is, that I was not at the
Presidency when the " Surprise " arrived; and when
I returned to it, my time and attention were so entirely engrossed, to the day of my final departure from it, by a variety of other more important occupations, of
which, Sir, I may safely appeal to your testimony,
grounded on the large portion contributed by myself
of the volumes, which compose our Consultations of
that period, that the. submission which my respect
would have enjoined me to pay to the command
imposed on me was lost to my recollection, perhaps
from the stronger impression which the first and distant perusal of it had left on my mind that it was rather intended as a reprehension for something
which had given. offence inl my report of the original
transaction than as expressive of any want of a further
elucidation of it.
I will now endeavor to reply to the different questions which have been stated to me in as explicit
a manner as I am able. To such information as I
can give the Honorable Court is fully entitled; and
where that shall prove defective, I will point out the
easy means by which it may be rendered more complete.
First, I believe I can affirm with certainty, that the
several sums mentioned in the account transmitted
with my letter above mentioned Were received'at or
within a very few days of the dates which are prefixed
to them in the account; but as this contains only the
gross sums, and each of these was received in different payments, though at no great distance of time, I cannot therefore assign a greater degree of accuracy
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 321
to the account. Perhaps the Honorable Court will
judge this sufficient for any purpose to which their
inquiry was directed; but if it should not be so, I
will beg leave to refer for a more minute information,
and for the means of making any investigation which
they may think it proper to direct, respecting the
particulars of this transaction, to Mr. Larkins, your
Accountant-General, who was privy to every process
of it, and possesses, as I believe, the original paper,
which contained the only account that I ever kept of
it. In this each receipt was, as I recollect, specifically inserted, with the name of the person by whom it
was made; and I shall write to him to desire that he:
will furnish you with the paper itself, if it is still in
being and in his hands, or with whatever he can distinctly recollect concerning it.
For my motives for withholding the several receipts
from the knowledge of the Council, or of the Court of
Directors, and for taking bonds for part of these sums,
and paying others into the treasury as deposits on
my own account, I have generally accounted in my
letter to the Honorable the Court of Directors of the
22d May, 1782: namely, that " I either chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which my memory at that distance of time could verify; and that I did not think
it worth my care to observe the same means with the
rest. " It will not be expected that I should be able
to give a more correct explanation of my intentions
-after a lapse of three years, having declared at the time
that many particulars had escaped my remembrance;
neither shall I attempt to add more than the clearer'
affirmation of the facts implied in that report of.
VOL. IX. 21
? ? ? ? 322 ARTICLES OF CHARGE.
them, and such inferences as necessarily, or with a
strong probability, follow them.
I have said that the three first sums of the account were paid into the Company's treasury without passing through my hands. The second of these
was forced into notice by its destination and application to the expense of a detachment which was
formed and employed against Mahdajee Sindia under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Camac, as
I particularly apprised the Court of Directors in my
letter of the 29th November, 1780. The other two
were certainly not intended, when I received them,
to be made public, though intended for public service, and actually applied to it. The exigencies of
the government were at that time my own, and every
pressure upon it rested with its full weight upon my
mind. Wherever I could find allowable means of
relieving those wants, I eagerly seized them; but
neither could it occur to me as necessary to state on
our Proceedings every little aid which I could thus
procure, nor do I know how I could have stated it,
without appearing to court favor by an ostentation
which I disdain, nor without the chance of exciting
the jealousy of my colleagues by the constructive assertion of a separate and unparticipated merit, derived from the influence of my station, to which they might have laid an equal claim. I should have
deemed it particularly dishonorable to receive for my
own use money tendered by men of a certain class,
frort whom I had interdicted the receipt of presents
to my inferiors, and bound them by oath not to receive them. I was therefore more than ordinarily
cautious to avoid the suspicion of it, which would
scarcely have failed to lighlt upon me, had I suffered
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 323
the money to be brought directly to my own house,
or to that of any person known to be in trust for me:
for these reasons I caused it to be transported immediately to the treasury. There, you well know, Sir,
it could not be received without being passed to some
credit, and this could only be done by entering it as a
loan or as a deposit: the first was the least liable to
reflection, and therefore I had obviously recourse to
it. Why tlie second sum was entered as a deposit
I am utterly ignorant: possibly it was done without
any special direction from me; possibly because it
was the simplest mode of entry, and therefore preferred, as the transaction itself did not require concealment, having been already avowed.
Although I am firmly persuaded that these were my
sentiments on the occasion, yet I will not affirm that
they were. Though I feel their impression as the remains of a series of thoughts retained on my memory,
I am not certain that they may not have been produced by subsequent reflection on the principal fact,
combining with it the probable motives of it. Of this
I am certain, that it was my design originally to
have concealed the receipt of all the sums, except
the second, even from the knowledge of the Court of
Directors. They had answered my purpose of public utility, and I had almost totally dismissed them
from my remembrance. But when fortune threw
a sum in my way of a magnitude which could not
be concealed, and the peculiar delicacy of my situation at the time in which I received it made me
more circumspect of appearances, I chose to apprise my employers of it, which I did hastily and generally: hastily, perhaps to prevent the vigilance and activity of secret calumny;. and generally, because I
? ? ? ? . 324 ARTICLES OF CHARGE.
knew not the exact amount of the sum, of which I
was in the receipt, but not in the full possession.
I promised to acquaint them with the result as soon
as I should be in possession of it, and in the performance of my promise I thought it consistent with it to add to the account all the former appropriations
of the same kind: my good genius then suggesting
to me, with a spirit of caution which might have
spared me the trouble of this apology, had I universally attended to it, that, if I had suppressed
them, and they were afterwards known, I might be
asked what were my motives for withholding part
of these receipts from the knowledge of the Court
of Directors and informing them of the rest.
It being my wish to clear up every doubt upon this
transaction, which either my own mind could suggest
or which may have been suggested by others, I beg
leave to suppose another question, and to state the
terms of it in my reply, by informing you that the
indorsement on the bonds was made about the period
of my leaving the Presidency, in the middle of the
year 1781, in order to guard against their becoming
a claim on the Company, as part of my estate, in the
event of my death occurring in the course of the service on which I was then entering.
This, Sir, is the plain history of the transaction.
I should be ashamed to request that you would communicate it to the Honorable Court of Directors, whose time is too valuable for the intrusion of a subject so uninteresting, but that it is become a point of indispensable duty; I must therefore request the
favor of you to lay it, at a convenient time, before
them. In addressing itto you personally, I yield to
my own feelings of the respect which is due to them
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 325
as a body, and to the assurances which I derive from
your experienced civilities that you will kindly overlook the trouble imposed by it. I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your very humble and most obedient servant,
(Signed) WARREN HASTINGS.
CHELTENHAM, 11 July, 1785.
