Our
reputations
have always been guarded from attacks by his prudence, and our families have always
been protected by his justice.
been protected by his justice.
Edmund Burke
In consideration of these opinions, orders, and declarations, hle, in
1773, abolished the office of collector, and transferred
the management of the revenues to several councils
of revenue, called Provincial Councils, and recommended their perpetual establishment by act of Parliament. In the year 1774, in contradiction of his former opinion respecting the necessity of the Supreme Council possessing all possible means of becoming
acquainted with the details of the revenue, he again
recommended the conitinuance of the Provincial Councils in all their parts. This he again declared to be
his deliberate opinion in 1775 and in 1776.
In the mean time a majority of the Supreme Coun
cil, consisting of members who had generally differed
in opinion from Mr. Hastings, had transmitted thei:
advice to the Court of Directors, recommending some
changes in the system of Provincial Councils. The
Directors, in their reply to this recommendation, did
in 1777 order the Supreme Council to form a new
plan for the collection of the revenues, and to transmit it to them for their consideration.
No such plan was transmitted; but in the year
1781, Mr Hastings having obtained a majority in the
Council, he again changed the whole system, both
of collection of the revenue and of the executive administration of civil and criminal justice. And who
were the persons substituted in the place of those
whom he removed? Names, my Lords, with which
you are already but too well acquainted. At their
head stands Munny Begum; then comes his own
domestic, and private bribe-agent, Gunga Govind
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 313
Sing; then his banian, Cantoo Baboo; then that instrument of all evil, Debi Sinlg; then. the whole tribe
of his dependants, white and black, whom lie made
farmers of the revenue, with Colonel Hannay at their
head; and, lastly, his confidential Residents, secret
agents, and private secretaries, Mr. Middleton, Major
Palmer, &c. , &c. Can. your Lordships doubt, for a
single instant, of the real spirit of these proceedings?
Can you doubt of the whole design having originated
and ended in corruption and peculation?
We have fully stated to you, from the authority of
these parties themselves, the effects and consequences of these proceedings, - namely, the dilapidation of the revenues, and the ruin and desolation of the
provinces. And, my Lords, what else could have
been expected or designed by this sweeping subvert
sion of the control of the Company's servants over
the collection of the revenue, and the vesting of it
in a black dewan, but fraud and peculation? What
else, I say, was to be expected, in the inextricable
turnings and windings of that black mystery of iniquity, but the concealment of every species of wrong, violence, outrage, and oppression?
Your Lordships, then, have seen that the whole
country was put into the hands of Gunga Govind
Sing; and when you remember who this Gunga
Govind Sing was, and how effectually Mr. Hastings
lhad secured him against detection, inl every part of
his malpractices and atrocities, canl you for a moment hesitate to believe that the whole project was planned atnd executed for thle purpose of putting all
Bengal under contribution to Mr. Hastings? But if
you are resolved, after all this, to entertain a good
opinion of Mr. Hastinlgs,- if you have taken it into
? ? ? ? 314 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
your heads, for reasons best known to yourselves, to
imagine that he has some hidden xirtues, which in
the government of Bengal lihe has not displayed, and
which, to us of the House of Commons, have not
been discernible in any one single instance,- theso
virtues may be fit subjects for paragraphs in newspapers, they may be pleaded for him by the partisans
of his Indian faction, but your Lordships will do well
to remember that it is not to Mr. Hastings himself
that you are trusting, but to Gunga Govind Sing.
If the Committee were tools in his hands, must not
Mr. Hastings have also been a tool in his hands?
If they with whom he daily and hourly had to transact business, and whose office it was to control and
restrain him, were unable so to do, is this control
and restraint to be expected from Mr. Hastings,
who was his confidant, and whose corrupt transactions he could at any time discover to the world?
My worthy colleague has traced the whole of Mr.
Hastings's bribe account, in the most clear and satisfactory manner, to Gunga Govind Sing, -him first,
him last, him midst, and without end. If we fail
of the conviction of the prisoner at your bar, your
Lordships will not have acquitted Mr. Hastings
merely, but you will confirm all the robberies and
rapines of Gunga Govind Sing. You will recognize
him as a faithful governor of India. Yes, my Lords,
let us rejoice in this man! Let us adopt him as our
own! Let our country, let this House, be proud of
him! If Mr. Hastings call be acquitted, we must admit Gunga Govind Singl's government to be the greatest blessing that ever happened to mankind. But if Gunga Govind Sing's government be the greatest
curse that ever befell suffering humanity, as we assert
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 315
it to have been, there is the mall that placed him
in it; there is his father, his godfather, the first author and origin of all these evils and calamities. My
Lords, remember Dinagepore; remember the bribe of
40,0001. which Gunga Govind Sing procured for Mr.
Hastings in that province, and the subsequent horror
of that scene.
But, my Lords, do you extend your confidence to
Gunga Govind Sing? Not even the face of this man,
to whom the revenues of the Company, together with
the estates, fortunes, reputations, and lives of the
inhabitants of that country were delivered over, is
known in those provinces. He resides at Calcutta,
and is represented by a variety of under-agents. Do
you know Govind Ghose? Do you know Nundulol?
Do you know the whole tribe of peculators, whom
Mr. Hastings calls his faithful domestic servants?
Do you know all the persons that Gunga Govind Sing
must employ ill the various ramifications of the revenues throughout all the provinces? Are you prepared to trust all these? The Board of Revenue has confessed that it could not control them. Mr.
Hastings himself could not control them. The establishment of tlhis system was like Sin's opening the
gates of Hell: like her, he could open the gate, - but
to shut, as Milton says, exceeded his power. The
former establishments, if defective, or if abuses were
found in them, might have been corrected. There
was at least the means of detecting and punishing
abuse. But Mr. Hastings destroyed the means of
doing either, by putting the whole country into the
hands of Gunga Govind Sing.
Now, having seen all these things done, look to the
account. Your Lordships will now be pleased to look
? ? ? ? 316 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
at this business as a mere account of revenue. You
will find, on comparing the three years in which Mr.
Hastings was in the minority with the three years
after the appointment of this Committee, that the
assessment upon the country increased, but that the
revenue was diminished; and you will also find,
which is a matter that ought to astonish you, that
the expenses of the collections were increased by no
less a sum than 500,0001. You may judge from this
what riot there was in rapacity and ravage, both
amongst the European and native agents, but chiefly amongst the natives: for Mr. Hastings did not divide the greatest part of this spoil among the Companly's servants, but among this gang of black dependants. These accounts are in pages 1273 and 1274 of your Minutes.
My Lords, weighty indeed would have been the
charge brought before your Lordships by the Commons of Great Britain against the prisoner at your
bar, if' they had fixed upon no other crime or misdemeanor than that which I am now pressing upon
you, - his throwing off the allegiance of the Company, his putting a black master over himself, and his
subjecting the whole of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa,
the whole of the Company's servants, the Company's
revenues, the Company's farms, to Gunga Govind
Silg. But, my Lords, it is a very curious and
remarkable thing, that we have traced this man as
Mr. Hastings's bribe-broker up to the time of the
nomination of this Committee; we have traced him
through a regular series of bribery; he is AMr. Hastings's bribe-broker at Patna; lie is Mr. Hastings's
bribe-broker at Nuddea; he is his bribe-broker at
Dinagepore; we find him his bribe-broker in all these
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- EIGHTH DAY. 317
places; but from the moment that this Committee was
constituted, it became a gulf in which the prevention,
the detection, and the correction of all kind of abuses
were sulnk and lost forever. From the time when this
Committee and Gunga Govind Sing were appointed,
you do not find one word more of Mr. Hastings's
bribes. Had he then ceased to receive any? or where
are you to look for them? You are to look for them
in that 500,0001. excess of expense in the revenue
department, and in the rest of all that corrupt traffic
of Gunga Govind Sing of which we gave you specimens at the time we proved his known bribes to you.
These are nothing but index-lhands to point out to you
the immense mass of corruption which had its origin,
and was daily accumulating in these provinces, under
the protection of Mr. Hastings. And can you think,
and can we talk of such transactions, without feeling emotions of indignation and horror not to be described? Can we contemplate such scenes as these, - can we look upon those desolated provinces, upon
a country so ravaged, a people so subdued, - Mahometans, Gentoos, our own countrymen, all trampled
under foot by this tyrant, -- can we do this, without
giving expression to those feelings which, after animating us in this life, will comfort us when we die,
and will form our best part in another?
My Lords, I am now at the last day of my endeavors to inspire your Lordships with a just sense of
these unexampled atrocities. I have had a great
encyclopedia of crimes to deal withll; I will get
through them as soon as I canl; and I pray your
Lordships to believe, that, if I omit anything, it is to
time I sacrifice it,-that it is to want of strel'tbl I
sacrifice it,- that it isto necessity, and not fir'n:L:)i
? ? ? ? 318 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
despair of making, from the records and from the evidence, matter so omitted as black as anything that I
have yet brought before you.
The next thing of which I have to remind your
Lordships respecting these black agents of the prisoner is, that we find him, just before his departure
from India, recommending three of them, Gunga Govind Sing, Gunga Ghose, and Nundulol, as persons fit
and necessary to be rewarded for their services by
the Company. Now your Lordships will find, that, of
these faithful domestic servants, there is not one of
them who was not concerned in these enormous briberies, and in betraying their own native and natural master. If I had time for it, I believe I could trace every person to be, in proportion to Mr. Hastings's confidence in him, the author of some great
villany. These persons he thinks had not been sufficiently rewarded, and accordingly he recommends
to the board, as his dying legacy, provision for
these faithful attached servants of his, and particularly for Gunga Govind Sing. The manner in
which this man was to be rewarded makes a part of
the history of these transactions, as curious, perhaps,
as was ever exhibited to the world. Your Lordships
will find it in page 2841 of your Minutes.
The IRajah of Dinagepore was a child at that time
about eleven years old, and had succeeded to the
Rajahship (by what means I shall say nothing) when
he was about five years old. He is made to apply to
Mr. Hastings for leave to grant a very considerable
part of his estate to Gunga Govind Sing, as a reward
for his services. These services could only be known
to the Rajah's family by having robbed it of at least
40,0001. , the bribe given to Mr. Hastings. But the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 319
Rajah's family is so little satisfied with this bountiful and liberal donation to Gunga Govind Sing, that
they desire that several purgunnahs, or farms, that
are mentioned in the application made to the Council, should be separated from the family estate and
given to this mall. Such was this extraordinary
gratitude: gratitude, not for money received, but for
money taken away, -a species of gratitude unknown
in any part of the world but in India; gratitude
pervading every branch of the family; his mother
coming forward and petitioning likewise that her son
should be disinherited; his uncle, the natural protector and guardian of his minority, coining forward and petitioning most earnestly that his nephew
should be disinherited: all the family join in one voice
of supplication to Mr. Hastings, that Gunga Govind
Sing may hlave a very large and considerable part of
their family estate given to him. Mr. Hastings, after
declaring that certain circumstances respecting this
property, which are mentioned in his minutes, were
to his knowledge true, but which your Lordships, upon examination, will find to be false, and falsified in
every particular, recommends, in the strongest manner, to the board, a compliance with this application. He was at this time on the eve of his departure from India, in haste to provide for his faithful servants; and he well knew that this his last act
would be held binding upon his successors, who were
devoted to him.
Here, indeed, is genuine and heroic gratitude,gratitude for money received, not for money taken
away; and yet this gratitude was towards a person
who had paid himself out of the belefit which had
been conferred, at the expense of a third party. For
? ? ? ? 320 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Gunga Govind Sing had kept for himself 20,0001.
out of 40,0001. taken from the Rajah. For this
clleat, stated by Mr. Larkins to be such, and allowed
by Mr. Hastings himself to be such, he, with a perfect knowledge of that fraud and cheat committed upon the public, (for he pretends that the money
was meant for the Company,) makes this supplication to his colleagues, and departs.
After his departure, Gunga Govind Sing, relying
upon the contilnuance of the corrupt influence which
lie had gained, had the impudence to come forward
aiid demand the confirmation of this grant by the
Couicil-Geiieral. The Council, though willing to
accede to Mr. Hastings's proposition, were stopped
in a moment by petitions much more natural, but of
a direct contrary tenor. The poor infant Rajah raises his cries not to be deprived of his inheritance; his mother comes forward and conjures the Council not
to oppress her son and wrong her family; the uncle
comes and supplicates the board to save from ruin
these devoted victims which were under his protection. All these counter-petitions come before the Council while the ink is hardly dry upon the petitions which Mr. Hastings had left behind him, as proofs of the desire of this family to be disinherited
in favor of Gunga Govind Sing. Upon the receipt
of these remonstrances, the board could not proceed
in the business, and accordingly Gunga Govinid Sing
was defeated.
But Gunga Govind Sing was unwilling to quit his
prey. And what does he do? I desire your Lordships to consider seriously the reply of Gulnga Govind Sing, as it appears upon yorI: milnutes. It is a bold
answer. He denies the right of the Rajah to tlhese
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 321
estates. "Why," says he, "all property in this
country depends upon the will of your government.
How came this Rajah's family into possession of this
great zemindary? Why, they got it at first by the
mere favor of government. The whole was an iniquitous transaction. This is a family that in some former age has robbed others; and now let me rob
them. " In support of this claim, he adds the existence of' other precedents, namely, " that many clerks or mutsuddies and banians at Calcutta had," as he
says, " got possession of the lands of other people
without any pretence of right; -why should not
I? " Good God! what precedents are these!
Your Lordships shall now hear the razinama, or
testimonial, which, since Mr. Hastings's arrival in
England, this Rajah has been induced to send to the
Company from India, and you will judge then of the
state in which Mr. Hastings has left that country.
Hearken, my Lords, I pray you, to the razinama of
this mani, from whom 40,0001. was taken by Mr.
Hastings and Gunga Govind Sing, and against whom
an attempt was made by the same persons to deprive
hlim of his inheritance. Listen to this razinama, and
tlhle judge of all the other testimonials which have
beeni produced on the part of the prisoner at your bar.
Ilis counsel rest upon them, they glory in them,
land we shall not abate them one of these precious
testimonials. They put the voice of grateful India
agrainst the voice of ungrateful England. Now hear
what grateful India says, after our having told you
for what it was so grateful.
"I, Radanaut, Zemindar of Purgunnah Havelly
Punjera, commonly called Dinagepore: -As it has
VOL. XII. 21
? ? ? ? 322 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
been learnt by me, the mutsuddies and respectable
officers of my zemindary, that the ministers of England are displeased with the late Governor, Warren
Hastings, Esquire, upon the suspicion that he oppressed us, took money from us by deceit and force,
and ruined the country, therefore we, upon the
strength of our religion, which we think it incumbent on and necessary for us to abide by, following
the rules laid down in giving evidence, declare the
particulars of the acts and deeds of Warren Hastings, Esquire, full of circumspection and caution, civility and justice, superior to the conduct of the most learned, and by representing what is fact wipe away
the doubts that have possessed the minds of the ministers of England; that Mr. Hastings is possessed of
fidelity and confidence, and yielding protection to us;
that he is clear from the contamination of mistrust
and wrong, and his mind is free of covetousness and
avarice. During the time of his administration, no
one saw other conduct than that of protection to the
husbandmen, and justice; no inhabitant ever experienced affliction, no one ever felt oppression from him.
Our reputations have always been guarded from attacks by his prudence, and our families have always
been protected by his justice. "
Good God! my Lords, " our families protected by
his justice "! What! after Gunga Govind Sing, in
concert with Mr. Hastings, had first robbed him of
40,0001. , and then had attempted to snatch, as it
were, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings the
inheritance of their fathers, and to deprive this infant
of a great part of his family estate? Here is a child,
eleven years old, who never could have seen Mr.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 323
Hastings, who could know nothing of him but from
the heavy hand of oppression, affliction, wrong, and
robbery, brought to bear testimony to the virtues of
Mr. Hastings before a British Parliament! Such is
the confidence they repose in their hope of having
bribed the English nation by the millions and millions
of money, the countless lacs of rupees, poured into
it from India, that they had dared to bring this poor
robbed infant to bear testimony to the character of
Mr. Hastings! These are the things which are to be
opposed to the mass of evidence which the House of
Commons bring against this man, - evidence which
they bring from his own acts, his own writing, and
his own records, - a cloud of testimony furnished by
himself in support of charges brought forward and
urged by us agreeably to the magnitude of his crimes,
with the horror which is inspired by them, and with
the contempt due to this paltry attempt towards his
defence, which they had dared to produce from the
hands of an infant but eleven years old when Mr.
Hastings quitted that country!
But to proceed with the razinama.
"' He never omitted the smallest instance of kind
ness towards us, but healed the wounds of despair
with the salve of consolation, by means of his benevolent and kind behavior, never permitting one of us to sink in the pit of despondence. He supported
every one by his goodness, overset the designs of
evil-minded men by his authority, tied the hand of
oppression with the strong bandage of justice, and
by these means expanded the pleasing appearance of
happiness and joy over us. He reestablished justice
and impartiality. We were during his government
? ? ? ? 324 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
in the enjoyment of perfect happiness and ease, and
many of us are thankful and satisfied. As Mr. Hastings was well acquainted with our manners and customs, he was always desirous in every respect of doing whatever would preserve our religions rites,
and guard them against every kind of accident and
injury, and at all times protected us. Whatever we
have experienced from him, and whatever happened
from him, we have written without deceit or exaggeration. "
My Lords, before I take leave of this affair of
bribes and of the great bribe-broker, let me just
offer a remark to your Lordships upon one curious
transaction. My Lords, we have charged a bribe
taken from the Nabob of Oude, and we have stated
the corrupt and scandalous proceeding which attended it. I thought I had done with Oude; but
as there is a golden chain between all the virtues,
so there is a golden chain which links together all
the vices. Mr. Hastings, as you have seen, and as
my honorable colleague has fully opened it to you,
received a bribe or corrupt present from the Nabob
of Oude in September, 1781. We heard no more
of this bribe than what we had stated, (no other
trace of it ever appearing in the Company's records,
except in a private letter written by Mr. Hastings to
the Court of Directors, and afterwards in a communication such as you have heard through Mr. Larkins,) till Of,tober, 1783.
But, my Lords, we have since discovered, through
and in consequence of the violent disputes which took
place between Mr. Hastings and the clan of Residents that were in Oude, -the Resident of the Com
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -EIGHTH DAY. 325
pany, Mr. Bristow, the two Residents of Mr. Hastings, Mr. Middleton and Mr. Johnson, and the two
Residents sent by him to watch over all the rest,
Ma3or Palmer and Major Davy, -- upon quarrels, I
say, between them, we discovered that Mr. Middleton had received the offer of a present of 100,0001.
in February, 1782. This circumstance is mentioned
in a letter of Mr Middleton's, ill which lie informs
Mr. Hastings that the Nabob had destined such a
sum for him.
Now the first thing that will occur to your Lordships upon such an affair will be a desire to know
what it was that induced the Nabob to make this
offer. It was but in the September preceding that
Mr. Hastings had received, for his private use, as the
Nabob conceived, so bountiful a present as 100,0001. ;
what motive, tlien, could he have had in February
to offer him another 100,0001. ? This man, at the
time, was piercing heaven itself with the cries of
despondency, despair, beggary, and ruin. You have
seen that lie was forced to rob his own family, in
order to satisfy the Company's demands upon him;
and yet thlis is precisely the time when he thinks
proper to offer 100,0001. to Mr. Hastings. Does not
the mind of every man revolt, whilst lie exclaims,
and say, " What! another 100,0001. to Mr. Hastillgs? "
What reason had the Nabob to think Mr. Hastilgs
so monstrously insatiable, that, having but the Soptember before received 100,0001. , he must give him
another in February? My Lords, he must, in the
interval, have threatened the Nabob with some horrible catastrophe, from which lie was to redeem himself by this second present. You can assign no other motive for his giving it. We know not what
? ? ? ? 326 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
answer Mr. Hastings made to Mr. Middleton upon
that occasion, but we find that in the year 1783 Mr.
Hastings asserts that he sent up Major Palmer and
Major Davy to persuade the Nabob to transfer this
present, which the Nabob intended for him, to the
Company's service. Remark, my Lords, the progress of this affair. In a formal accusation preferred against Mr. Middleton, he charges him with obstructing this design of his. In this accusation, my Lords, you find him at once in tile curious character of
prosecutor, witness, and judge.
Let us see how lie comports himself. I shall only
state to you one of the articles of his impeachment;
it is the third charge; it is in page 1267 of your
Lordsllips' Minutes.
"For sending repeatedly to the Vizier, and to his
minister, Hyder Beg Khan, to advise them against
transferring the ten lacs of rupees intended as a
present to the Governor-General to the Company's
account; as it would be a precedent for further
demands, which if the Vizier did not refuse in the
first instance, the government would never cease to
harass him for money. "
The first thing that will occur to your Lordships
is an assertion of the accuser's:'" I am morally
certain, that jaidads or assets for ten lacs, either
in assignment of land or in bills, had been prepared,
and were in the charge or possession of Mr. Middleton, before Major Palmer's arrival, and left with Mr. Johnson on Mr. Middleton's departure. "
My Lords, here is an accusation that Mr. Middleton had actually received money, either in bills or assets of some kind or other, - and that, upon quit
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- EIGHTH DAY. 327
ting his Residency, he had handed it over to his
successor, Mr. Johnson. Here are, then, facts asserted, and we must suppose substantiated. Here
is a sum of money to be accounted for, in which
there is a gross malversation directly charged as to
these particulars, in Mr. Hastings's opinion. Mr.
Macpherson, another member of the Council, has declared, that he understood at the time that the ten
lacs were actually deposited in bills, and that it was
not a mere offer made by the Nabob to pay such a
sum from the future revenue of the country. Mr.
Hastings has these facts disclosed to him. He declares
that he was " morally certain" of it, - that is, as certain as a man can be of anything; because physical
certitude does not belong to such matters. The first
thing you will naturally ask is, " Why does lie not
ask Mr. Johnson how lie had disposed of that money
which Mr. Middleton had put in Iris hands? " He
does no such thing; he passes over it totally, as if it
were no part of the matter inll question, and the accusation against Mr. Middleton terminates in the mainner you will there find stated. When Mr. Johnson is
asked, " Why was not that monley applied to the Comnpany's service? " he boldly steps forward, and says,
" I prevented it from being so applied. It never was,
it never ought to have been, so applied; such an
appropriation of money to be taken from the Nabob
would have been enormous upon that occasion. "
What, then, does Mr. Hastings do? Does he examince AIr. Middleton upon the subject, who charges himself with having received the money? Mr. Middleton was at that very time in Calcutta, called down thither by Mr. Hastings himself. One would naturally expect that lie would call upon him to explain for
? ? ? ? 328 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
what purpose he left the money with Mr. Johnson.
He did no such thing. Did he examine Mr. Johnson himself, who was charged with having received
the money from Mr. Middleton? Did he ask him
what he had done with that money? Not one word.
Did he send for Major Palmer and Major Davy to
account for it? No. Did lie call any shroff, ally
banker, any one person concerned in the payment of
the money, or any one person in the management of
the revenue? No, not one. Directly in the face of
his own assertions, directly contrary to his moral conviction of the fact that the money had been actually deposited, he tries Mr. Johnson collusively and obliquely, not upon the account of what was done with the money, but why it was prevented from being applied to the Company's service; and he acquits him in a manner that (taking the whole of it together)
will give your Lordships the finest idea possible of a
Bengal judicature, as exercised by Mr. Hastings.
"I am not sorry," says lie, "that Mr. Johnson
chose to defeat my intentions; since it would have
added to the Nabob's distresses, but with no immediate relief to the Company. If, in his own breast, he can view the secret motives of this transaction, and
on their testimony approve it, I also acquit him. "
Merciful God! Here is a man accused by regular articles of impeachment. The accuser declares he
is morally certain that the money had been received,
but was prevented from being applied to its destination by the person accused; and he acquits him. Does lie acquit him from his own knowledge, or from
any evidence? No: but he applies to the man's colnscience, and says, "If you in your conscience can acquit yourself, I acquit you. "
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -EIGHTH DAY. 329
Here, then, is a proceeding the most astonishing
and shameless that perhaps was ever witnessed: a
court trying a man for a delinquency and misapplication of money, destilled, in the first instance, for the use of the judge, but which he declares ought, in his
own opinion, to be set apart for the public use, and
which he was desirous of' applying to the Company's
service, without regard to his own interest, and then
the judge declaring lie is not sorry that his purpose
had been defeated by the party accused. Instead,
however, of censuring the accused, he applies to the
man's own conscience. " Does your conscience,"
says he, " acquit you of having acted wrong? " The
accused makes no reply; and then Mr. Hastings, by
an hypothetical conclusion, acquits him.
Mr. Hastings is accused by the Commons for that,
having a moral certainty of the money's being intended for his use, he would not have ceased to inquire into the actual application of it but from some corrupt motive and intention. With this he is charged.
He comes before you to make his defence. Mr. Middleton is in England. Does he call Mr. Middleton
to explain it here? Does he call upon Mr. Johnson,
who was the other day in this court, to account for
it? Why did lie not, when he sent for these curious
papers and testimonials to Major Palmer, (the person
authorized, as lie pretends, by him, to resign all his
pretensions to the money procured,) send for Major
Palmer, who is the person that accused him in this
business, - why not send for him to bear some testimony respecting it? No: he had time enough, but
at no one time and inll no place did lie do this; therefore the imputation of the foulest corruption attaches upon him, joined with the infamy of a collusive pros
? ? ? ? 330 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ecution, instituted for the sake of a collusive acquittal.
Having explained to your Lordships the nature,
and detailed the circumstances, as far as we are acquainted with them, of this fraudulent transaction,
we have only further to remind you, that, though
Mr. Middleton was declared guilty of five of the
six charges brought against him by Mr. Hastings, yet
the next thing you hear is, that Mr. Hastings, after
declaring that this conduct of Mr. Middleton had
been very bad, and that the conduct of the other servants of the Company concerned with him had been
ten times worse, he directly appoints him to one of
the most honorable and confidential offices the Company had to dispose of: he sends him ambassador to
the Nizam, -- to give to all the courts of India a specimen of the justice, honor, and decency of the British government.
My Lords, with regard to the bribe for the entertainment, I only beg leave to make one observation
to you upon that article. I could say, if the time
would admit it, a great deal upon that subject; but
I wish to compress it, and I shall therefore only recommend it in general to your Lordships' deliberate
consideration. The covenant subsisting between the
Company and its servants was made for the express
purpose of putting an end to all such entertainments.
By this convention it is ordered that no presents exceeding 2001. [4001. ? ] shall be accepted upon any
pretence for an entertainment. The covenant was intended to put an end to the custom of receiving money for entertainments, even wlhen visiting an independent Oriental prince. But your Lordsbips know that the Nabob was no prince, but a poor, imiserable, un
? ? ? ?
1773, abolished the office of collector, and transferred
the management of the revenues to several councils
of revenue, called Provincial Councils, and recommended their perpetual establishment by act of Parliament. In the year 1774, in contradiction of his former opinion respecting the necessity of the Supreme Council possessing all possible means of becoming
acquainted with the details of the revenue, he again
recommended the conitinuance of the Provincial Councils in all their parts. This he again declared to be
his deliberate opinion in 1775 and in 1776.
In the mean time a majority of the Supreme Coun
cil, consisting of members who had generally differed
in opinion from Mr. Hastings, had transmitted thei:
advice to the Court of Directors, recommending some
changes in the system of Provincial Councils. The
Directors, in their reply to this recommendation, did
in 1777 order the Supreme Council to form a new
plan for the collection of the revenues, and to transmit it to them for their consideration.
No such plan was transmitted; but in the year
1781, Mr Hastings having obtained a majority in the
Council, he again changed the whole system, both
of collection of the revenue and of the executive administration of civil and criminal justice. And who
were the persons substituted in the place of those
whom he removed? Names, my Lords, with which
you are already but too well acquainted. At their
head stands Munny Begum; then comes his own
domestic, and private bribe-agent, Gunga Govind
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 313
Sing; then his banian, Cantoo Baboo; then that instrument of all evil, Debi Sinlg; then. the whole tribe
of his dependants, white and black, whom lie made
farmers of the revenue, with Colonel Hannay at their
head; and, lastly, his confidential Residents, secret
agents, and private secretaries, Mr. Middleton, Major
Palmer, &c. , &c. Can. your Lordships doubt, for a
single instant, of the real spirit of these proceedings?
Can you doubt of the whole design having originated
and ended in corruption and peculation?
We have fully stated to you, from the authority of
these parties themselves, the effects and consequences of these proceedings, - namely, the dilapidation of the revenues, and the ruin and desolation of the
provinces. And, my Lords, what else could have
been expected or designed by this sweeping subvert
sion of the control of the Company's servants over
the collection of the revenue, and the vesting of it
in a black dewan, but fraud and peculation? What
else, I say, was to be expected, in the inextricable
turnings and windings of that black mystery of iniquity, but the concealment of every species of wrong, violence, outrage, and oppression?
Your Lordships, then, have seen that the whole
country was put into the hands of Gunga Govind
Sing; and when you remember who this Gunga
Govind Sing was, and how effectually Mr. Hastings
lhad secured him against detection, inl every part of
his malpractices and atrocities, canl you for a moment hesitate to believe that the whole project was planned atnd executed for thle purpose of putting all
Bengal under contribution to Mr. Hastings? But if
you are resolved, after all this, to entertain a good
opinion of Mr. Hastinlgs,- if you have taken it into
? ? ? ? 314 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
your heads, for reasons best known to yourselves, to
imagine that he has some hidden xirtues, which in
the government of Bengal lihe has not displayed, and
which, to us of the House of Commons, have not
been discernible in any one single instance,- theso
virtues may be fit subjects for paragraphs in newspapers, they may be pleaded for him by the partisans
of his Indian faction, but your Lordships will do well
to remember that it is not to Mr. Hastings himself
that you are trusting, but to Gunga Govind Sing.
If the Committee were tools in his hands, must not
Mr. Hastings have also been a tool in his hands?
If they with whom he daily and hourly had to transact business, and whose office it was to control and
restrain him, were unable so to do, is this control
and restraint to be expected from Mr. Hastings,
who was his confidant, and whose corrupt transactions he could at any time discover to the world?
My worthy colleague has traced the whole of Mr.
Hastings's bribe account, in the most clear and satisfactory manner, to Gunga Govind Sing, -him first,
him last, him midst, and without end. If we fail
of the conviction of the prisoner at your bar, your
Lordships will not have acquitted Mr. Hastings
merely, but you will confirm all the robberies and
rapines of Gunga Govind Sing. You will recognize
him as a faithful governor of India. Yes, my Lords,
let us rejoice in this man! Let us adopt him as our
own! Let our country, let this House, be proud of
him! If Mr. Hastings call be acquitted, we must admit Gunga Govind Singl's government to be the greatest blessing that ever happened to mankind. But if Gunga Govind Sing's government be the greatest
curse that ever befell suffering humanity, as we assert
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 315
it to have been, there is the mall that placed him
in it; there is his father, his godfather, the first author and origin of all these evils and calamities. My
Lords, remember Dinagepore; remember the bribe of
40,0001. which Gunga Govind Sing procured for Mr.
Hastings in that province, and the subsequent horror
of that scene.
But, my Lords, do you extend your confidence to
Gunga Govind Sing? Not even the face of this man,
to whom the revenues of the Company, together with
the estates, fortunes, reputations, and lives of the
inhabitants of that country were delivered over, is
known in those provinces. He resides at Calcutta,
and is represented by a variety of under-agents. Do
you know Govind Ghose? Do you know Nundulol?
Do you know the whole tribe of peculators, whom
Mr. Hastings calls his faithful domestic servants?
Do you know all the persons that Gunga Govind Sing
must employ ill the various ramifications of the revenues throughout all the provinces? Are you prepared to trust all these? The Board of Revenue has confessed that it could not control them. Mr.
Hastings himself could not control them. The establishment of tlhis system was like Sin's opening the
gates of Hell: like her, he could open the gate, - but
to shut, as Milton says, exceeded his power. The
former establishments, if defective, or if abuses were
found in them, might have been corrected. There
was at least the means of detecting and punishing
abuse. But Mr. Hastings destroyed the means of
doing either, by putting the whole country into the
hands of Gunga Govind Sing.
Now, having seen all these things done, look to the
account. Your Lordships will now be pleased to look
? ? ? ? 316 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
at this business as a mere account of revenue. You
will find, on comparing the three years in which Mr.
Hastings was in the minority with the three years
after the appointment of this Committee, that the
assessment upon the country increased, but that the
revenue was diminished; and you will also find,
which is a matter that ought to astonish you, that
the expenses of the collections were increased by no
less a sum than 500,0001. You may judge from this
what riot there was in rapacity and ravage, both
amongst the European and native agents, but chiefly amongst the natives: for Mr. Hastings did not divide the greatest part of this spoil among the Companly's servants, but among this gang of black dependants. These accounts are in pages 1273 and 1274 of your Minutes.
My Lords, weighty indeed would have been the
charge brought before your Lordships by the Commons of Great Britain against the prisoner at your
bar, if' they had fixed upon no other crime or misdemeanor than that which I am now pressing upon
you, - his throwing off the allegiance of the Company, his putting a black master over himself, and his
subjecting the whole of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa,
the whole of the Company's servants, the Company's
revenues, the Company's farms, to Gunga Govind
Silg. But, my Lords, it is a very curious and
remarkable thing, that we have traced this man as
Mr. Hastings's bribe-broker up to the time of the
nomination of this Committee; we have traced him
through a regular series of bribery; he is AMr. Hastings's bribe-broker at Patna; lie is Mr. Hastings's
bribe-broker at Nuddea; he is his bribe-broker at
Dinagepore; we find him his bribe-broker in all these
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- EIGHTH DAY. 317
places; but from the moment that this Committee was
constituted, it became a gulf in which the prevention,
the detection, and the correction of all kind of abuses
were sulnk and lost forever. From the time when this
Committee and Gunga Govind Sing were appointed,
you do not find one word more of Mr. Hastings's
bribes. Had he then ceased to receive any? or where
are you to look for them? You are to look for them
in that 500,0001. excess of expense in the revenue
department, and in the rest of all that corrupt traffic
of Gunga Govind Sing of which we gave you specimens at the time we proved his known bribes to you.
These are nothing but index-lhands to point out to you
the immense mass of corruption which had its origin,
and was daily accumulating in these provinces, under
the protection of Mr. Hastings. And can you think,
and can we talk of such transactions, without feeling emotions of indignation and horror not to be described? Can we contemplate such scenes as these, - can we look upon those desolated provinces, upon
a country so ravaged, a people so subdued, - Mahometans, Gentoos, our own countrymen, all trampled
under foot by this tyrant, -- can we do this, without
giving expression to those feelings which, after animating us in this life, will comfort us when we die,
and will form our best part in another?
My Lords, I am now at the last day of my endeavors to inspire your Lordships with a just sense of
these unexampled atrocities. I have had a great
encyclopedia of crimes to deal withll; I will get
through them as soon as I canl; and I pray your
Lordships to believe, that, if I omit anything, it is to
time I sacrifice it,-that it is to want of strel'tbl I
sacrifice it,- that it isto necessity, and not fir'n:L:)i
? ? ? ? 318 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
despair of making, from the records and from the evidence, matter so omitted as black as anything that I
have yet brought before you.
The next thing of which I have to remind your
Lordships respecting these black agents of the prisoner is, that we find him, just before his departure
from India, recommending three of them, Gunga Govind Sing, Gunga Ghose, and Nundulol, as persons fit
and necessary to be rewarded for their services by
the Company. Now your Lordships will find, that, of
these faithful domestic servants, there is not one of
them who was not concerned in these enormous briberies, and in betraying their own native and natural master. If I had time for it, I believe I could trace every person to be, in proportion to Mr. Hastings's confidence in him, the author of some great
villany. These persons he thinks had not been sufficiently rewarded, and accordingly he recommends
to the board, as his dying legacy, provision for
these faithful attached servants of his, and particularly for Gunga Govind Sing. The manner in
which this man was to be rewarded makes a part of
the history of these transactions, as curious, perhaps,
as was ever exhibited to the world. Your Lordships
will find it in page 2841 of your Minutes.
The IRajah of Dinagepore was a child at that time
about eleven years old, and had succeeded to the
Rajahship (by what means I shall say nothing) when
he was about five years old. He is made to apply to
Mr. Hastings for leave to grant a very considerable
part of his estate to Gunga Govind Sing, as a reward
for his services. These services could only be known
to the Rajah's family by having robbed it of at least
40,0001. , the bribe given to Mr. Hastings. But the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 319
Rajah's family is so little satisfied with this bountiful and liberal donation to Gunga Govind Sing, that
they desire that several purgunnahs, or farms, that
are mentioned in the application made to the Council, should be separated from the family estate and
given to this mall. Such was this extraordinary
gratitude: gratitude, not for money received, but for
money taken away, -a species of gratitude unknown
in any part of the world but in India; gratitude
pervading every branch of the family; his mother
coming forward and petitioning likewise that her son
should be disinherited; his uncle, the natural protector and guardian of his minority, coining forward and petitioning most earnestly that his nephew
should be disinherited: all the family join in one voice
of supplication to Mr. Hastings, that Gunga Govind
Sing may hlave a very large and considerable part of
their family estate given to him. Mr. Hastings, after
declaring that certain circumstances respecting this
property, which are mentioned in his minutes, were
to his knowledge true, but which your Lordships, upon examination, will find to be false, and falsified in
every particular, recommends, in the strongest manner, to the board, a compliance with this application. He was at this time on the eve of his departure from India, in haste to provide for his faithful servants; and he well knew that this his last act
would be held binding upon his successors, who were
devoted to him.
Here, indeed, is genuine and heroic gratitude,gratitude for money received, not for money taken
away; and yet this gratitude was towards a person
who had paid himself out of the belefit which had
been conferred, at the expense of a third party. For
? ? ? ? 320 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Gunga Govind Sing had kept for himself 20,0001.
out of 40,0001. taken from the Rajah. For this
clleat, stated by Mr. Larkins to be such, and allowed
by Mr. Hastings himself to be such, he, with a perfect knowledge of that fraud and cheat committed upon the public, (for he pretends that the money
was meant for the Company,) makes this supplication to his colleagues, and departs.
After his departure, Gunga Govind Sing, relying
upon the contilnuance of the corrupt influence which
lie had gained, had the impudence to come forward
aiid demand the confirmation of this grant by the
Couicil-Geiieral. The Council, though willing to
accede to Mr. Hastings's proposition, were stopped
in a moment by petitions much more natural, but of
a direct contrary tenor. The poor infant Rajah raises his cries not to be deprived of his inheritance; his mother comes forward and conjures the Council not
to oppress her son and wrong her family; the uncle
comes and supplicates the board to save from ruin
these devoted victims which were under his protection. All these counter-petitions come before the Council while the ink is hardly dry upon the petitions which Mr. Hastings had left behind him, as proofs of the desire of this family to be disinherited
in favor of Gunga Govind Sing. Upon the receipt
of these remonstrances, the board could not proceed
in the business, and accordingly Gunga Govinid Sing
was defeated.
But Gunga Govind Sing was unwilling to quit his
prey. And what does he do? I desire your Lordships to consider seriously the reply of Gulnga Govind Sing, as it appears upon yorI: milnutes. It is a bold
answer. He denies the right of the Rajah to tlhese
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 321
estates. "Why," says he, "all property in this
country depends upon the will of your government.
How came this Rajah's family into possession of this
great zemindary? Why, they got it at first by the
mere favor of government. The whole was an iniquitous transaction. This is a family that in some former age has robbed others; and now let me rob
them. " In support of this claim, he adds the existence of' other precedents, namely, " that many clerks or mutsuddies and banians at Calcutta had," as he
says, " got possession of the lands of other people
without any pretence of right; -why should not
I? " Good God! what precedents are these!
Your Lordships shall now hear the razinama, or
testimonial, which, since Mr. Hastings's arrival in
England, this Rajah has been induced to send to the
Company from India, and you will judge then of the
state in which Mr. Hastings has left that country.
Hearken, my Lords, I pray you, to the razinama of
this mani, from whom 40,0001. was taken by Mr.
Hastings and Gunga Govind Sing, and against whom
an attempt was made by the same persons to deprive
hlim of his inheritance. Listen to this razinama, and
tlhle judge of all the other testimonials which have
beeni produced on the part of the prisoner at your bar.
Ilis counsel rest upon them, they glory in them,
land we shall not abate them one of these precious
testimonials. They put the voice of grateful India
agrainst the voice of ungrateful England. Now hear
what grateful India says, after our having told you
for what it was so grateful.
"I, Radanaut, Zemindar of Purgunnah Havelly
Punjera, commonly called Dinagepore: -As it has
VOL. XII. 21
? ? ? ? 322 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
been learnt by me, the mutsuddies and respectable
officers of my zemindary, that the ministers of England are displeased with the late Governor, Warren
Hastings, Esquire, upon the suspicion that he oppressed us, took money from us by deceit and force,
and ruined the country, therefore we, upon the
strength of our religion, which we think it incumbent on and necessary for us to abide by, following
the rules laid down in giving evidence, declare the
particulars of the acts and deeds of Warren Hastings, Esquire, full of circumspection and caution, civility and justice, superior to the conduct of the most learned, and by representing what is fact wipe away
the doubts that have possessed the minds of the ministers of England; that Mr. Hastings is possessed of
fidelity and confidence, and yielding protection to us;
that he is clear from the contamination of mistrust
and wrong, and his mind is free of covetousness and
avarice. During the time of his administration, no
one saw other conduct than that of protection to the
husbandmen, and justice; no inhabitant ever experienced affliction, no one ever felt oppression from him.
Our reputations have always been guarded from attacks by his prudence, and our families have always
been protected by his justice. "
Good God! my Lords, " our families protected by
his justice "! What! after Gunga Govind Sing, in
concert with Mr. Hastings, had first robbed him of
40,0001. , and then had attempted to snatch, as it
were, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings the
inheritance of their fathers, and to deprive this infant
of a great part of his family estate? Here is a child,
eleven years old, who never could have seen Mr.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - EIGHTH DAY. 323
Hastings, who could know nothing of him but from
the heavy hand of oppression, affliction, wrong, and
robbery, brought to bear testimony to the virtues of
Mr. Hastings before a British Parliament! Such is
the confidence they repose in their hope of having
bribed the English nation by the millions and millions
of money, the countless lacs of rupees, poured into
it from India, that they had dared to bring this poor
robbed infant to bear testimony to the character of
Mr. Hastings! These are the things which are to be
opposed to the mass of evidence which the House of
Commons bring against this man, - evidence which
they bring from his own acts, his own writing, and
his own records, - a cloud of testimony furnished by
himself in support of charges brought forward and
urged by us agreeably to the magnitude of his crimes,
with the horror which is inspired by them, and with
the contempt due to this paltry attempt towards his
defence, which they had dared to produce from the
hands of an infant but eleven years old when Mr.
Hastings quitted that country!
But to proceed with the razinama.
"' He never omitted the smallest instance of kind
ness towards us, but healed the wounds of despair
with the salve of consolation, by means of his benevolent and kind behavior, never permitting one of us to sink in the pit of despondence. He supported
every one by his goodness, overset the designs of
evil-minded men by his authority, tied the hand of
oppression with the strong bandage of justice, and
by these means expanded the pleasing appearance of
happiness and joy over us. He reestablished justice
and impartiality. We were during his government
? ? ? ? 324 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
in the enjoyment of perfect happiness and ease, and
many of us are thankful and satisfied. As Mr. Hastings was well acquainted with our manners and customs, he was always desirous in every respect of doing whatever would preserve our religions rites,
and guard them against every kind of accident and
injury, and at all times protected us. Whatever we
have experienced from him, and whatever happened
from him, we have written without deceit or exaggeration. "
My Lords, before I take leave of this affair of
bribes and of the great bribe-broker, let me just
offer a remark to your Lordships upon one curious
transaction. My Lords, we have charged a bribe
taken from the Nabob of Oude, and we have stated
the corrupt and scandalous proceeding which attended it. I thought I had done with Oude; but
as there is a golden chain between all the virtues,
so there is a golden chain which links together all
the vices. Mr. Hastings, as you have seen, and as
my honorable colleague has fully opened it to you,
received a bribe or corrupt present from the Nabob
of Oude in September, 1781. We heard no more
of this bribe than what we had stated, (no other
trace of it ever appearing in the Company's records,
except in a private letter written by Mr. Hastings to
the Court of Directors, and afterwards in a communication such as you have heard through Mr. Larkins,) till Of,tober, 1783.
But, my Lords, we have since discovered, through
and in consequence of the violent disputes which took
place between Mr. Hastings and the clan of Residents that were in Oude, -the Resident of the Com
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -EIGHTH DAY. 325
pany, Mr. Bristow, the two Residents of Mr. Hastings, Mr. Middleton and Mr. Johnson, and the two
Residents sent by him to watch over all the rest,
Ma3or Palmer and Major Davy, -- upon quarrels, I
say, between them, we discovered that Mr. Middleton had received the offer of a present of 100,0001.
in February, 1782. This circumstance is mentioned
in a letter of Mr Middleton's, ill which lie informs
Mr. Hastings that the Nabob had destined such a
sum for him.
Now the first thing that will occur to your Lordships upon such an affair will be a desire to know
what it was that induced the Nabob to make this
offer. It was but in the September preceding that
Mr. Hastings had received, for his private use, as the
Nabob conceived, so bountiful a present as 100,0001. ;
what motive, tlien, could he have had in February
to offer him another 100,0001. ? This man, at the
time, was piercing heaven itself with the cries of
despondency, despair, beggary, and ruin. You have
seen that lie was forced to rob his own family, in
order to satisfy the Company's demands upon him;
and yet thlis is precisely the time when he thinks
proper to offer 100,0001. to Mr. Hastings. Does not
the mind of every man revolt, whilst lie exclaims,
and say, " What! another 100,0001. to Mr. Hastillgs? "
What reason had the Nabob to think Mr. Hastilgs
so monstrously insatiable, that, having but the Soptember before received 100,0001. , he must give him
another in February? My Lords, he must, in the
interval, have threatened the Nabob with some horrible catastrophe, from which lie was to redeem himself by this second present. You can assign no other motive for his giving it. We know not what
? ? ? ? 326 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
answer Mr. Hastings made to Mr. Middleton upon
that occasion, but we find that in the year 1783 Mr.
Hastings asserts that he sent up Major Palmer and
Major Davy to persuade the Nabob to transfer this
present, which the Nabob intended for him, to the
Company's service. Remark, my Lords, the progress of this affair. In a formal accusation preferred against Mr. Middleton, he charges him with obstructing this design of his. In this accusation, my Lords, you find him at once in tile curious character of
prosecutor, witness, and judge.
Let us see how lie comports himself. I shall only
state to you one of the articles of his impeachment;
it is the third charge; it is in page 1267 of your
Lordsllips' Minutes.
"For sending repeatedly to the Vizier, and to his
minister, Hyder Beg Khan, to advise them against
transferring the ten lacs of rupees intended as a
present to the Governor-General to the Company's
account; as it would be a precedent for further
demands, which if the Vizier did not refuse in the
first instance, the government would never cease to
harass him for money. "
The first thing that will occur to your Lordships
is an assertion of the accuser's:'" I am morally
certain, that jaidads or assets for ten lacs, either
in assignment of land or in bills, had been prepared,
and were in the charge or possession of Mr. Middleton, before Major Palmer's arrival, and left with Mr. Johnson on Mr. Middleton's departure. "
My Lords, here is an accusation that Mr. Middleton had actually received money, either in bills or assets of some kind or other, - and that, upon quit
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- EIGHTH DAY. 327
ting his Residency, he had handed it over to his
successor, Mr. Johnson. Here are, then, facts asserted, and we must suppose substantiated. Here
is a sum of money to be accounted for, in which
there is a gross malversation directly charged as to
these particulars, in Mr. Hastings's opinion. Mr.
Macpherson, another member of the Council, has declared, that he understood at the time that the ten
lacs were actually deposited in bills, and that it was
not a mere offer made by the Nabob to pay such a
sum from the future revenue of the country. Mr.
Hastings has these facts disclosed to him. He declares
that he was " morally certain" of it, - that is, as certain as a man can be of anything; because physical
certitude does not belong to such matters. The first
thing you will naturally ask is, " Why does lie not
ask Mr. Johnson how lie had disposed of that money
which Mr. Middleton had put in Iris hands? " He
does no such thing; he passes over it totally, as if it
were no part of the matter inll question, and the accusation against Mr. Middleton terminates in the mainner you will there find stated. When Mr. Johnson is
asked, " Why was not that monley applied to the Comnpany's service? " he boldly steps forward, and says,
" I prevented it from being so applied. It never was,
it never ought to have been, so applied; such an
appropriation of money to be taken from the Nabob
would have been enormous upon that occasion. "
What, then, does Mr. Hastings do? Does he examince AIr. Middleton upon the subject, who charges himself with having received the money? Mr. Middleton was at that very time in Calcutta, called down thither by Mr. Hastings himself. One would naturally expect that lie would call upon him to explain for
? ? ? ? 328 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
what purpose he left the money with Mr. Johnson.
He did no such thing. Did he examine Mr. Johnson himself, who was charged with having received
the money from Mr. Middleton? Did he ask him
what he had done with that money? Not one word.
Did he send for Major Palmer and Major Davy to
account for it? No. Did lie call any shroff, ally
banker, any one person concerned in the payment of
the money, or any one person in the management of
the revenue? No, not one. Directly in the face of
his own assertions, directly contrary to his moral conviction of the fact that the money had been actually deposited, he tries Mr. Johnson collusively and obliquely, not upon the account of what was done with the money, but why it was prevented from being applied to the Company's service; and he acquits him in a manner that (taking the whole of it together)
will give your Lordships the finest idea possible of a
Bengal judicature, as exercised by Mr. Hastings.
"I am not sorry," says lie, "that Mr. Johnson
chose to defeat my intentions; since it would have
added to the Nabob's distresses, but with no immediate relief to the Company. If, in his own breast, he can view the secret motives of this transaction, and
on their testimony approve it, I also acquit him. "
Merciful God! Here is a man accused by regular articles of impeachment. The accuser declares he
is morally certain that the money had been received,
but was prevented from being applied to its destination by the person accused; and he acquits him. Does lie acquit him from his own knowledge, or from
any evidence? No: but he applies to the man's colnscience, and says, "If you in your conscience can acquit yourself, I acquit you. "
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -EIGHTH DAY. 329
Here, then, is a proceeding the most astonishing
and shameless that perhaps was ever witnessed: a
court trying a man for a delinquency and misapplication of money, destilled, in the first instance, for the use of the judge, but which he declares ought, in his
own opinion, to be set apart for the public use, and
which he was desirous of' applying to the Company's
service, without regard to his own interest, and then
the judge declaring lie is not sorry that his purpose
had been defeated by the party accused. Instead,
however, of censuring the accused, he applies to the
man's own conscience. " Does your conscience,"
says he, " acquit you of having acted wrong? " The
accused makes no reply; and then Mr. Hastings, by
an hypothetical conclusion, acquits him.
Mr. Hastings is accused by the Commons for that,
having a moral certainty of the money's being intended for his use, he would not have ceased to inquire into the actual application of it but from some corrupt motive and intention. With this he is charged.
He comes before you to make his defence. Mr. Middleton is in England. Does he call Mr. Middleton
to explain it here? Does he call upon Mr. Johnson,
who was the other day in this court, to account for
it? Why did lie not, when he sent for these curious
papers and testimonials to Major Palmer, (the person
authorized, as lie pretends, by him, to resign all his
pretensions to the money procured,) send for Major
Palmer, who is the person that accused him in this
business, - why not send for him to bear some testimony respecting it? No: he had time enough, but
at no one time and inll no place did lie do this; therefore the imputation of the foulest corruption attaches upon him, joined with the infamy of a collusive pros
? ? ? ? 330 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ecution, instituted for the sake of a collusive acquittal.
Having explained to your Lordships the nature,
and detailed the circumstances, as far as we are acquainted with them, of this fraudulent transaction,
we have only further to remind you, that, though
Mr. Middleton was declared guilty of five of the
six charges brought against him by Mr. Hastings, yet
the next thing you hear is, that Mr. Hastings, after
declaring that this conduct of Mr. Middleton had
been very bad, and that the conduct of the other servants of the Company concerned with him had been
ten times worse, he directly appoints him to one of
the most honorable and confidential offices the Company had to dispose of: he sends him ambassador to
the Nizam, -- to give to all the courts of India a specimen of the justice, honor, and decency of the British government.
My Lords, with regard to the bribe for the entertainment, I only beg leave to make one observation
to you upon that article. I could say, if the time
would admit it, a great deal upon that subject; but
I wish to compress it, and I shall therefore only recommend it in general to your Lordships' deliberate
consideration. The covenant subsisting between the
Company and its servants was made for the express
purpose of putting an end to all such entertainments.
By this convention it is ordered that no presents exceeding 2001. [4001. ? ] shall be accepted upon any
pretence for an entertainment. The covenant was intended to put an end to the custom of receiving money for entertainments, even wlhen visiting an independent Oriental prince. But your Lordsbips know that the Nabob was no prince, but a poor, imiserable, un
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