No More Learning

-THIRD DAY. 51
tion of the facts implied in that report of them, and
such inferences as necessarily, or with a strong probability, follow them. "
My Lords, you see, as to any direct explanation,
that lie fadirly gives it up: he has used artifice and
stratagell, which he knows will not do; and at last
attempts to cover the treachery of his conduct by
the treachery of his memory. Frequent applications
were made to Mr. Hastings upon this article from the
Company, - gentle hints, gemnitus colunbce, - rather,
little amorous complaints that he was not more open
and communicative; but all these gentle insinuations
were never able to draw from him any further account
till lie came to England. When he came here, he
left not only his memory, but all his notes and references, behind in India. When in India the Company could get no account of them, because lie himself was not in England; and when lie was in England,
they could' get no account, because his papers were
in India. He then sends over to Mr. Larkins to give
that account of his affairs which he was not able to
give himself. Observe, here is a man taking money
privately, corruptly, and which was to be sanctified
by the future application of it, taking false securities
to cover it, and who, when called upon to tell whom
he got the money from, for what ends, and on what
occasion, neither will tell in India nor can tell in
England, but sends for such an account as he has
thought proper to furnish.
I am now to bring before you an account of what I
think much the most serious part of the effects of
his system of bribery, corruption, and peculation.
IMy Lords, I am to state to you the astonisllinlg and
almost incredible means he made use of to lay all the
? ? ? ? 52 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
country under contribution, to bring the whole into
such dejection as should put his bribes out of the
way of discovery. Such another example of boldness
and contrivance I believe the world cannot furnish.
I have already shown, amongst the mass of his
corruptions, that he let the whole of the lands to farm
to the banians; next, that he sold the whole Mahomedan government of that country to a woman. ' This
was bold enough, one should think; but without entering into the circumstances of the revenue change in
1772, I am to tell your Lordships that he had appointed six Provincial Councils, each consisting of many
members, who had the ordinary administration of civil
justice in that country, and the whole business of the
collection of the revenues.
These Provincial Councils accounted to the Governor-General and Council, who in the revenue department had the whole management, control, and regulation of the revenue. Mr. Hastings did in several papers to the Court of Directors declare, that the
establishment of these Provincial Councils, which at
first he stated only as experimental, had proved useful in the experiment, - and on that use, and upon
that experiment, lie had sent even the plan of an act
of Parliament, to have it confirmed with the last and
most sacred authority of this country. The Court of
Directors desired, that, if lie thought any other method more proper, he would send it to them for their
approbation.
Thus the whole face of the British government, the
whole of its order and constitution, remained from
1772 to 1781. He had got rid, some time before
this period, by death, of General Clavering, by death,
of Colonel Monson, and by vexation and persecution,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 53
and his consequent dereliction of authority, lie had
shaken off Mr. Francis. The whole Council consisting only of himself and Mr. Wheler, he, having
the casting vote, was in effect the whole Council;
and if ever there was a time when principle, decency,
and decorum rendered it improper for him to do ally
extraordinary acts without the sanction of the Court
of Directors, that was the time. Mr. Wheler was
taken off,- despair perhaps rendering the man, who
had been in opposition futilely before, compliable.
The man is dead. He certainly did not oppose him;
if he had, it would have been in vaini. But those
very circumstances which rendered it atrocious in
Mr. Hastings to make any change induced him to
make this. He thought that a moment's time was
not to be lost,- that other colleagues might come,
where lie might be overpowered by a majority again,
and not able to pursue his corrupt plans. Therefore
he was resolved, --your Lordsliips will remark the
whole of this most daring and systematic plan of bribery and peculation, -- he resolved to put it out of the power of his Council in future to check or control
him in any of his evil practices.
The first thing he did was to form an ostensible
council at Calcutta for the management of the revenues, which was not effectually bound, except it thought fit, to make any reference to the Supreme
Council. He delegated to them- that is, to four
covenanted servants --those functions which by act
of Parliament and the Company's orders were to be
exercised by the Council-General; he delegated to
four gentlemen, creatures of his own, his own powers,
but he laid them out to good interest. It appears odd
that one of the first acts to a Governor-General, so
? ? ? ? 54 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
jealous of his power as he is known to be, as soon as
he had all the power in his own hands, should be to
put all thle revenues out of his own control. This
upon the first view is an extraordinary proceeding.
His next step was, without apprising the Court of
Directors of his intention, or without having given
an idea of any such intention to his colleagues while
alive, either those who died in India, or those who
afterwards returned to Europe, in one day, in a moment, to annihilate the whole authority of the Provincial Councils, and delegate the whole power to these four gentlemen.
Tlhese four gentlemen had for their secretary an
agent given them by Mr. Hastings: a name that you
will often hear of; a lname at the sound of which all
India turns pale; the most wicked, the most atrocious, the boldest, the most dexterous villain that ever
the rank servitude of tlhat country has produced. My
Lords, I am speaking with the most assured fireedom,
because there never wa. s a friend of Mr. Hastillgs,
there never was a foe of Mr. Hastings, there never was
any human person, that ever differed on this occasion,
or expressed any other idea of Gunga Govind Sing, tlle
friend of Mr. Hastings, whom lie initrusted with this
important post. But you shall hear, from the account given by themselves, what the Council thought
of their functions, of their efficiency for the charge,
and in whose hands that efficiency really was. I beg,
hope, and trust, that your Lo. rdships will learn from
the persons themselves who were appointed to execute the office their opinion of the real execution of
it, in order that you may judge of the plan for which
he destroyed the whole English administration in
India.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 55
"The Committee must have a dewan, or executive
officer, call him by what name you please. This
man, in fact, has all the revenue paid at the Presidency at his disposal, and can, if he has any abilities, bring all the renters under contribution. It is little
advantage to restrain the Committee themselves from
bribery or corruption, when their executive officer
has the power of practising both undetected. To
display the arts employed by a native on such occasions would fill a volume. He discovers the secret resources of the zemindars and renters, their enemies
and competitors; and by the engines of hope and fear,
raised upon these foundations, he can work them to
his purpose. The Committee, with the best intentions, best abilities, and steadiest application, must
after all be a tool in the hands of their dewan. "
Your Lordships see what the opinion of the Council was of their own constitution. You see for what
it was made. You see for what purposes the great
revenue trust was taken from the Council-General,
from the supreme government. You see for what
purposes the executive power was destroyed. You
have it from one of the gentlemen of this commission,
at first four in number, and afterwards five, who was
the most active, efficient member of it. You see it was
made for the purpose of being a tool in the hands of
Gunga Govind Sing; that integrity, ability, and vigilance could avail nothing; that the whole country
might be laid under contribution by this man, and that
he could thus practise bribery with impunity. Thus
your Lordships see the delegation of all the authority
of the country, above and below, is given by Mr. Hastings to this Gunga Govind Sing. The screen, the veil, spread before this transaction, is torn open by the very
? ? ? ? 56 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
people themselves who are the tools in it. They confess they can do nothing; they know they are instruments in the hands of Gunga Govind Sing; and Mr. Hastings uses his name and authority to make them
such in the hands of the basest, the wickedest, the
corruptest, the most audacious and atrocious villain
ever heard of. It is to him all the English authority
is sacrificed, and four gentlemen are appointed to be
his tools and instruments. Tools and instruments
for what? They themselves state, that, if he has the
inclination, he has the power and ability to lay the
whole country under contribution, that he enters into
the most minute secrets of every individual in it, gets
into the bottom of their family affairs, and has a power totally to subvert and destroy them; and we shall
show upon that head, that he well fulfilled the purposes for which he was appointed. Did Mr. Hastings
pretenld to say that he destroyed the Provincial Councils for their corruptness or insufficiency, when he
dissolved them? No: he says he has no objection to
their competency, no charge to make against their
conduct, but that he has destroyed them for his new
arrangement. And what is his new arrangement?
Gunga Govind Sing. Forty English gentlemen were
removed from their offices by that change. Mr. Hastings did it, however, very economically; for all these
gentlemen were instantly put upon pensions, and
consequently burdened the establishment with a new
charge. Well, but the new Council was formed and
constituted upon a very economical principle also.
These five gentlemen, you will have it in proof, with
the necessary expenses of their office, were a charge
of 62,0001. a year upon the establishment. But for
great,. eminent, capital services, 62,0001. , thougll a
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 57
much larger sum than what was thought fit to be allowed for the members of the Supreme Council itself,
may be admitted. I will pass it. It shall be granted
to Mr. Hastings, that these pensions, though they created a new burden on the establishment, were all
well disposed, provided the Council did their duty.
But you have heard what they say themselves: they
are not there put to do any duty; they can do no duty; their abilities, their integrity, avail them nothing;
they are tools in the hands of Gunga Govind Sing.
Mr. Hastings, then, has loaded the revenue with
62,0001. a year to make Gunga Govind Sing master of the kingdoms of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa.
What must the thing to be moved be, when the machinery, when the necessary tools, for Gunga Govind
Sing have cost 62,0001. a year to the Company?
There it is; it is not my representation, not the representation of observant strangers, of good and decent people, that understand the nature of that service, but the opinion of the tools themselves. Now did Mr. Hastings employ Gunga Govind Sing
without a knowledge of his character? His character
was known to Mr. Hastings: it was recorded long
before, when he was turned out of another office.
" During my long residence," says he, " in this country, this is the first time I heard of the character of
Gunga Govind Sing being infamous. No information
I have received, though I have heard many people
speak ill of him, ever pointed to any particular act of
infamy committed by Gunga Govind Sing. I have no
intimate knowledge of Gunga Govind Sing. What I
understand of his character has been from Europeans
as well as natives. " After, -- " He had many enemies at the time he was proposed to be employed in
? ? ? ? 58 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the Company's service, and not one advocate among
the natives who had immediate access to myself. I
think, therefore, if his character had been such as has
been described, the knowvledge of it could hardly have
failed to have been ascertained to me by the specific
facts. I have heard him loaded, as I have many
others, with general reproaches, but have never heard
any one express a doubt of his abilities. " Now, if anything, in the world should induce you to put the
whole trust of the revenues of Bengal, both above and
below, into the hands of a single man, and to delegate to him the whole jurisdiction of the country, it
must be that lie cither was, or at least was reputed
to be, a man of integrity. Mr. Hastings does not pretend that he is reputed to be a man of integrity.
He knew that lie was not able to contradict the
charge brought against him, and that he had been
turned out of office by his colleagues, for reasons
assigned upon record, and approved by the Directors,
for malversation in office. He had, indeed, crept
again into the Calcutta Committee; and they were
upon the point of turning himn out for malversation,
when Mr. Hastings saved them the trouble by turning out the whole Committee, consisting of a president
and five members. So that in all times, in all characters, in all places, lie stood as a man of a bad character and evil repute, though supposed to be a man of great abilities.
My Lords, permit me for one moment to drop my
representative character here, and to speak to your
Lordships only as a man of some experience in the
world, and conversant with the affairs of men and
with the characters of men.
I do, then, declare my conviction, and wish it may
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 59
stand recorded to posterity, that there never was a
bad mnan that had ability for good service. It is not in
the nature of such men; their minds are so distorted
to selfish purposes, to knavish, artificial, and crafty
means of accomplishing those selfish ends, that, if
put to alny good service, they are poor, dull, helpless.
Their natural faculties never have that direction. ;
they are paralytic on that side; the muscles, if I may
use tile expression, that ought to move it, are all dead.
They know nothing, but how to pursue selfish ends
by wicked and indirect means. No man ever knowingly employed a bad man on account of his abilities, but for evil ends. Mr. Hastings knew this man to be
bad; all the world knew him to be bad; and how did
he employ him? In such a manner as that he might
be controlled by others? A great deal might be said
for hlim, if this had been the case. There mighlt be
circumstances in which such a man mighllt be used
in a subordinate capacity. But who ever thought
of putting such a man virtually in possession of the
whole authority both of the Committee and the
Council-General, and of the revenues of the whole
country?
As soon as we find Gunga Govind Sing here, we
find him employed in the way in which he was meant
to be employed: tllat is to say, we find him employed
in taking corrupt bribes and corrupt presents for Mr.
Hastings. Thoughll the Committee were tools in his
hands, he was a tool in the hands of Mr. Hastings;
for lie had, as we shall prove, constant, uniform, and
close communications with Mr. hIastings. And, indeed, we may be saved a good deal of the trouble of proof; for Mr. Hastings hlimself, by acknowledging him
to be lhis bribe-broker, has pretty well autheinticated a
? ? ? ? 60 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
secret correspondence between them. For the next
great bribe as yet discovered to be taken by Mr. Hastings, about the time of his great operation of 1781,
was the bribe of 40,0001. , which we charge to have
been privately taken from one of two persons, but from
which is not yet ascertained, but paid to him through
this flagitious black agent of his iniquities, Gunga Govind Sing. The discovery is made by another agent
of his, called Mr. Larkins, one of his white bribe-confidants, and by him made Accountant-General to the Supreme Presidency. For this sum, so clandestinely
and corruptly taken, he received a bond to himself, on
his own account, as for money lent to the Company.
For, upon the frequent, pressing, tender solicitations
of the Court of Directors, always insinuated to him in
a very delicate manner, Mr. Hastings had written to
Mr. Larkins to find out, if he could, some of his own
bribes; and accordingly Mr. Larkins sent over an
account of various bribes, - an account which, even
before it comes directly in evidence before you, it will
be pleasant to your Lordships to read. In this account, under the head, "Dinagepore, No. 1," I find
" Duplicate copy of the particulars of debts, in which
the component parts of sundry sums received on the account of the Honorable Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies were received by Mr. Hastings and
paid to the Sub-Treasurer. " We find here, "Dinagepore pesheush, four lacs of rupees, cabooleat"' that is,
an agreement to pay four lacs of rupees, of which
three were received and one remained in balance at
the time this account was made out. All that we can
learn from this account, after all our researches, after
all the Court of Directors could do to squeeze it out
of him, is, that he received firom Dinagepore, at twelve
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 61
monthly payments, a sum of about three lacs of rupees, upon an engagement to pay him four; that is, he
received about 30,0001. out of 40,0001.
which was to
be paid him: and we are told that he received this
sum through the hands of Gullga Govind Sing; and
that he was exceedingly angry with Gunga Govind
Sing for having kept back or defrauded him of the
sum of 10,0001. out of the 40,0001. To keep back
from him the fourth part of the whole bribe was very
reprehensible behavior in Gunga Govild Sing, certainly very unworthy of the great and high trust
which Mr. Hastings reposed in his integrity. My
Lords, this letter tells us Mr. Hastings was much irritated at Gunga Govind Sing. You will hereafter see
how Mr. Hastings behaves to persons against whom
he is irritated for their frauds upon him in their
joint concerns. In the mean time Gunga Govind
Sing rests with you as a person with whom Mr. Hastings is displeased on account of infidelity in the honorable trust of bribe undertaker and manager. My Lords, you are not very much enlightened,
I believe, by seeing these words, Dinagepore peshcush.
We find a province, we find a sum of money, we find
an agent, and we find a receiver. Tile province is
Dinagepore, the agent is Gunga Govind Sing, the sum
agreed on is 40,0001. , and the receiver of a part of
that is Mr. Hastings. This is all that can be seen.
Who it was that gave this sum of money to Mr. Hastings in this manner does no way appear; it is murder
by persons unknown: and this is the way in which
Mr. Hastings, after all the reiterated solicitations of
Parliament, of the Company, and the public, has left
the account of this bribe.
Let us, however, now see what was the state of
? ? ? ? 62 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
transactions at Dinagepore at that period. For, if
Mr. Hastings in the transactions at that period did
anything for that country, it must be presumed this
money was given for those acts; for Mr. Hastings confesses it was a sum of money corruptly received, but
honestly applied. It does not signify much, at first
view, from whom he received it; it is cnouglh to fix
upon him that he did receive it. But because the
consequences of his bribes make the main part of what
I intend to bring before your Lordships, I shall beg
to state to you, with your indulgence, what I have
been able to discover by a very close investigation
of th'e records respecting this business of Dinagepore.
Dinagepore, Rungpore, and Edrackpore make a
country, I believe, pretty nearly as large as all the
northern counties of Englland, Yorkshire included.
It is no mean country, and it has a prince of great,
ancient, illustrious descent at the head of it, called
the Rajah of Dinagepore.
I find, that, about the month of July, 1780, the Rajah of Dinagepore, after a long and lingering illness,
died, leaving an half-brother and an adopted son.
A litigation respecting the succession instantly arose
in the family; and this litigatigation was of course referred to, and was finally to be decided by, the Governor-General in Council, -- being the ultimate authority to which the decision of all these questions was to be referred. This cause came before Mr. Hastilgs,
and I find that he decided the question in favor of the
adopted son of the Rajah against his half-brother. I
find that upon that decision a rent was settled, and
a peshcush, or fine, paid. So that all that is in this
transaction is fair and above-board: there is a dispute
settled; there is a fine paid; there is a rent reserved
? ? ? ? SPEECH. IN OPENING. THIRD DAY. 63
to the Company; and the whole is a fair settlement.
But I find along with it very extraordinary acts; for
I find Mr. Hastings taking part in favor of the minor,
agreeably to the principles of others, and contrary to
his own. I find that he gave the guardianship of
this adopted son to the brother of the Ranny, as she
is called, or the widow of the deceased Rajah; and
though the hearing and settling of this business was
actually a part of the duty of his office, yet I find,
that, when the steward of the province of Dinagepore
was coming down to represent this case to Mr. Hastings, Mr. Hastings, on pretence that it would only tend to increase the family dissensions, so far from
hearing fully all the parties in this business, not only
sent'him back, but ordered him to be actually turned
out of his office. If, then, the 40,0001. be the same
with the money taken from the Rajah in 1780, to
which account it seems to refer, (for it was taken in
regular payments, beginning July, 1780, and ending
at the same period in 1781,) it was a sum of money
corruptly taken by him as a judge in a litigation of
inheritance between two great parties. So that lihe
received the sum of 40,0001. for a judgment; which,
whether that judgment was right or wrong, true or
false, he corruptly received.
This sum was received, as your Lordships will
observe, through Gunlga Govind Sing. He was the
broker of the agreement: lie was the person who
was to receive it by monthly instalhnents, and he was
to pay it to Mr. Hasting s. His son was in the office
of Register-General of the whole country, who had
in his custody all the papers, documents, and everytling which could tend to settle a litigation among the parties. If Mr. Hastings took this bribe from
? ? ? ? 64 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the Rajah of Dinagepore, he took a bribe from an
infant of five years old through the hands of the
Register. That is, the judge receives a bribe through
the llands of the keeper of the genealogies of the
family, the records and other documents, which must
have had the principal share in settling the question.
This history of this Dinagepore peshcush is the
public one received by the Company, and which is
entered upon the record,- but not the private, and
probably the true history of this corrupt transaction.
Very soon after this decision, very soon after this
peshcush was given, we find all the officers of the
young Rajah, who was supposed to have given it,
turned out of their employment by Gunga Govind
Sing, --by the very man who received the peshcush
for Mr. Hastings. We find them all turned out of
their employments; we find them all accused, without
any appearance or trace in the records of any proof
of embezzlement, of neglect in the education of the
minor Rajah, of the mismanagement of his affairs,
or the allotment of an unsuitable allowance. And
accordinlgly, to prevent the relations of his adopted
mother, to prevent those who might be supposed to
have an immediate interest in the family, from abusing the trust of his education and the trust of the management of his fortune, Gunga Govind Sing, (for
I trust your Lordships would not suffer me, if I had
a mind, to quote that tool of a thing, the Committee
of Revenue, bought at 62,0001. a year, -you would
not suffer me to name it, especially when you know
all the secret agency of bribes in the hand of Gunga
Govind Silng,) - this Gunga Govind Sing produces
soon after another character, to whom he consigns
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -- THIRD DAY. 65
the custody of the whole family and the whole province.
I will do Mr. Hastings the justice to say, that, if he
had known there was another man more accomplished
in all iniquity than Gunga Govind Sing, he would
not have given him the first place in his confidence.
But there is another next to him in the country,
whom you are to hear of by-anld-by, called Debi
Sing. This person, in the universal opinion of all
Bengal, is ranked next to Gunga Govind Sing; and,
what is very curious, they have been recorded by Mr.
Hastings as rivals in the same virtues.
Arcades ambo,
Et cantare pares, et respondere parati.
But Mr. Hastings has the happiest modes in the
world: these rivals were reconciled on this occasion,
and Gunga Govind Sing appoints Debi Sing, superseding all the other officers for no reason whatever upon record. And because, like champions, they
ought to go in pairs, there is an English gentleman,
one Mr. Goodlad, whom you will hear of presently,
appointed along with him. Absolute strangers to the
Rajah's family, the first act they do is to cut off a
thousand out of sixteen hundred a month from his
allowance. They state (though there was a great
number of dependants to maintain) that six hundred
would be enough to maintain him. There appears
in the account of these proceedings to be such a flutter about the care of the Rajah, and the management of his household: ill short, that there never was such
a tender guardianship as, always with the knowledge
of Mr. Hastings, is exercised over this poor Rajah,
who had just given (if he did give) 40,0001. for his
own inheritance, if it was his due, - for the inheriVOL. X. 5
? ? ? ? 66 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
tance of others, if it was not his due. One would
think he was entitled to some mercy; but, probably
because the money could not otherwise be supplied,
his establishment was cut down by Debi Sing and
Mr. Goodlad a thousand a month, which is just
twelve thousand a year.
When Mr. Hastings had appointed those persons,
to the guardianship who had an interest in the management of the Rajah's education and fortune, one
should have thought, before they were turned out, he
would at least have examined whether such a step
was proper or not. No: they were turned out without
any such examination; and whenl I come to inquire
into the proceedings of Gunga Govind Sing's Committee, I do not find that the new guardians have
brought to account one single shilling they received,
appointed as they were by that council newly made
to superintend all the affairs of the Rajah. There
iis not one word to be found of all account: Debi. Sing's honor, fidelity, and disinterestedness, and that
of Mr. Goodlad, is sufficient; and that is the way
in which the management and superintendence of
one of the greatest houses in that country is given
to the guardianship of strangers. And how is it. managed? We find Debi Sing in possession of the
Rajah's family, in possession of his affairs, in the
management of his whole zemindary; and in the
course of the next year he is to give him in farm the
whole of the revenues of these three provinces. Now
whether the peshcush was received for the ilomina-,tion of the Rajah as a bribe in judgment, or whetller
Mr. Hastings got it from Debi Sing as a bribe in office, for appointing him to the guardianship of a fam-. ly that did not belollg to him, and for the dominion
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 67
df three great and once wealthy provinces, - (which
is best'or worst I shall not pretend to determine,)
-you find the Rajah in his possession; you find his
education, his household, in his possession; the public revenues are in his possession; they are given
over to him.
If we look at the records, the letting of these provinces appears to have been carried on by the new
Committee of Revenue, as the course and order of
business required it should. But by the investigation into MIr. Hastings's money transactions, the insufficiency and fallacy of these records is manifest beyond a doubt. From this investigation it is discovered that it was in reality a bargain secretly struck
between the Governor-General and Debi Sing, and
that the Committee were only employed in the mere
official forms. From the time that AMr. Hastings
new-modelled the revenue system, nothing is seen
in its true shape. We now know, in spite of the
fallacy of these records, who the true grantor was:
it will not be amiss to go a little further in supplying
their defects, and to inquire a little concerning the
grantee. This makes it necessary for me to inform
your Lordships who Debi Sing is.
[Mr. Burke read the Committee's recommendation of
Debi Sing to the GCovernor-General and Council; but
the copy of the paper alluded to is wanting. ]
Here is a choice; here is Debi Sing presented for
his knowledge in business, his trust and fidelity, and
that lhe is a person against whom no objection can be
made. This is presented to Mr. Hastings, by him
recorded in the Council Books, and by him transmit
? ? ? ? 68 IMPEACHMIENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ted to the Court of Directors. Mr. IHastings has
since recorded, that lie knew this Debi Sing, (though
he here publicly authorizes the nomination of him
to all that great body of trusts,) - that lie knew him
to be a man completely capable of the most atrocious
iniquities that were ever charged upon man. Del)i
Sing is appointed to all those great trusts, through the
means of Gunga Govind Sing, from whom lie (Mr.
Hastings) llad received 30,0001. as a part of a bribe.
Now, thoughll it is a large field, though it is a thing
that I must confess I feel a reluctance almost in venturinlg to undertake, exhausted as I am, yet such is the maguitude of the affair, such the evil consequences that followed from a system of bribery, such the horrible consequences of superseding all the persons
in office in the country to give it into the hands of
Debi Sing, that, though it is the public opinlion, and
though nio man that hlas ever heard the name of Dobi
Sing does not know tllat lie was only second to Gunga Govind Sing, yet it is not to my purpose, unless 1 prove that Mr. Jiastings knlew his character at the
very time he accepts him as a person against whom
no exception could be made.
It is necessary to illform your Lordships who this
Debi Sing was, to whom these great trusts were committed, and those great provinces given.
It may be thought, and not unnaturally, that, in
this sort of corrupt and venal appointment to high
trust ald office, Mr. Hastings has no other consideration than the money he received. But whoever thinks so will be deceived. Mr. Hastings was very
far from indifferent to the character of the persons lihe
dealt with. On the contrary, he made a most carefiul
selection; hlie had a very scrupulous regard to the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 69
aptitude of the men for the purposes for which he
employed them, and was much guided by his experience of their conduct in those offices which had been
sold to them upon former occasions.
Except Guiiga Govilld Sillg, (whomi, as justice required, Mr. Hastillgs distilnguislied by the highest
marks of his collfidence,) there was not a man in
Benigarl, perhaps not upon earth, a match for this Debi Siing. He was not an unknown sulbject, not one
rashly taken up as an experiment. He was a tried
nan; and if there had been olne more desperately and
abaudonedly corrupt, more wildly anld flagitiously oppressive, to be found unemployed ill India, large as. his offers were, Mr. Hastings would not have taken this money from Debi Silng.
Debi Sing was one of those who in the early stages
of tlle Eiglish power ill Benlgal attached hlimself to
those natives who then stood high ill office. He
courted Mallomed Reza Khan, a Mussulman of the
highliest rank, of the tribe of Koreish, whom I have
already mentioned, then at the head of the revenue,
and now at the head of the criminal justice of Bengal,
with all the supple assiduity of wvlhich those who possess no valuable art or useful taleint are commonly
complete nmasters. Possessing large ftnds, acquired
by his apprenticeshlip and novitiate in tlle lowest
frauds, lie was enabled to lelld to this then powerfiul. man, in the several emergencies of lhis variable fortune, very large sums of moniey. Tills great man had been brought downl by Mr. Hastings, under the
orders of the Court of Directors, uponi a cruel cllarge,
to Calcutta. He was accused of many crimes, alld
acquitted, 220,0001. in debt: that is to say, as soon
as he was a great debtor, lie ceased to be a great
criminal.
? ? ? ? 70 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Debi Sing obtained by his services no slight influence over Mallomed Reza Khaun, a person of a character very different from his. From that connection lie was appointed to the farm
of the revenuc, and inclusively of the government of
Purneallh, a province of very great extent, and then in
a state of no inconsiderable opulence. In this office
he exerted his talents with so much vigor and industry that in a very short time the province was half
depopulated and totally ruined.
The farm, on the expiration of his lease, was taken
by a set of adventurers in this kind of traffic fiom
Calcutta. But when the new undertakers came to
survey the object of their future operations and fitture profits, they were so shocked at the hideous and
squalid scenes of misery and desolation that glared
upon them in every quarter, that they instantly fled
out of the country, and thought themselves but too
happy to be permitted, on the payment of a penalty
of twelve thousand pounds, to be released from their
engagements.
To give in a few words as clear an idea as I am
able to give of the immense volume which might be
composed of the vexatious, violence, and rapine of
that tyrannical administration, the territorial revenue
of Purnealh, which had been let to Debi Sing at the
rate of 160,0001. sterling a year, was with difficulty
leased for a yearly sum under 90,0001. , and with all
rigor of exaction produced in effect little more than
60,0001. , falling greatly below one half of its original
estimate: so eltirely did tlle administration of Debi
Sing exhaust all the resources of the province; so totally did his baleful influence blast the very hope and
spring of all future revenue.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 71
The administration of Debi Sing was too notoriously destructive not to cause a general clamor. It was
impossible that it should be passed over without animadversion. Accordingly, in the month of September, 1772, Mr. Hastings, then at the head of the Committee of Circuit, removed him for maladministration; and he has since publicly declared on record
that he knew him to be capable of all the most horrid and atrocious crimes that can be imputed to man.
This brand, however, was only a mark for Mr.
Hastings to find him out hereafter in the crowd, to
identify him for his own, and to call him forth into
action, when his virtues should be sufficiently matured for the services in which he afterwards employed him, through his instruments, Mr. Anderson and Gunga Govind Sing. In the mean time he left
Debi Sing to the direction of his own good genius.
Debi Sing was stigmatized in the Company's records, his reputation was gone, but his funds were
safe.