If he had said nothing
but "Your servant, such a one, has done his duty,"
this explanation might pass.
but "Your servant, such a one, has done his duty,"
this explanation might pass.
Edmund Burke
?
?
SPEECH IN REPLY.
-- SIXTH DAY.
91
before you the horrible state of the whole service;
your Lordships have it fresh in your memories, and
ringing in your ears. You have also heard from
witnesses brought by Mr. Hastings himself, that these
soldiers committed misdemeanors of the very same
kind with those which we have stated. They ought
not, therefore, to be listened to for a moment; and
we aver that it is an aggravation of the prisoner's
crimes, that he has brought the instruments of his
guilt, the persons of whom he has complained as
having ruinled and destroyed that country, and whom
he had engaged, at the Nabob's desire, in the treaty
of Cllhular, to send out of the country, as being a
nuisance in it,- to bring, I say, these people here, to
criininate, at a distance of nine thousand miles, these
unfortunate women, where they have neither attorney
or agent who can from local knowledge cross-examine them. He has the audacity to bring these people here; and in what manner they comport themselves,
when they come here, your Lordships have seen.
There is one of them whom we cannot pass by:
that is, Captain Gordon. The other witnesses, who
appeared here as evidences to criminate the Begums,
did it by rumors and hearsays. They had heard
some person say that the Begums had encouraged
rebellion, always coupling them with Saadut Ali
Khlaln, and sometimes with the Nabob, because there
might have been some probability for their charge
in the transactions with Saadut Ali Khan, which,
though impossible with regard to the Begums, they
thought would implicate him [them? ] in his designs.
But Captain Gordon is to give a different account
of the proceedings.
Captain Gordon was one of Colonel Hannay's
? ? ? ? 92 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
under-farmers. He was hunted out of the country,
and, as one of the Begums says, pursued by a thousand of the zemindars, for robbing the whole country. This woman, through respect to the British name,
that name which guarantied her possessions to her,
receives this Captain Gordon and Captain Williams
with every mark of kindness, hospitality, and protection, that could be given them. She conveys them from the borders to the city of Fyzabad, and from
Fyzabad, her capital, supposed to be the nest of her
rebellion, on to their place of destination. They both
write her letters full of expressions of gratitude and
kindness for the services that they had received. They
then pass on to Lucknow to Sir Elijah Impey, and
there they sink every word of kindness, of any service
or protection that they had received, or of any acknowledgment that they had ever made of it. They
sink all this: not one word of it appears in their
affidavits.
HIow, then, did we come to the knowledge of it?
We got it from Major Gilpin, who was examined in
the course of these proceedings; and we used it in
our charge, from the papers that we hold in our
hands. Mr. Hastings has confessed the fact; and
Mr. Middleton has endeavored to slur it ovqer, but
could not completely conceal it. We have established the fact, and it is in evidence before your Lordships. You have now, then, in this manner, got these testimonials given by English officers in favor of these women; and by the same means the letters of the
latter accusing the former are come to your hands:
and now these same English officers come here with
their recriminatory accusation. Now why did they
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- SIXTH DAY. 93
not make it at Lucknow? Why did not Mr. Hastings, when Mr Middleton had such papers for him in
his hands, why, I ask, did not Mr. Hastings procure
some explanation of the circumstances whilst he was
in India? I will read your Lordships the letter, that
you may not only know, but feel, the iniquity of this
business.
Letter from the Mother of the Vizier to Mr. Hastings;
received the 6th of January, 1782.
"Our situation is pretty well, and your good
health is constantly prayed for. I had sent Behar
Ali Khan to you. Accordingly people invented a
falsehood, that Behar Ali Khan was gone to get the
deputyship of the Subah; and some persons here
were saying,'Wherefore has she sent Behar Ali
Khan to Calcutta to the Nabob Amaud ul Dowlah?
We will never permit the affair to succeed. ' And
accordingly it has so happened. For they say that
you also have not put your seal to the treaty: and
the people here say,' Why does the noble lady correspond with the English gentlemen? ' On this account, I did not send a letter at the time when you came this way. Now the state of affairs here is thus.
On the 27th Zehedja, Asoph ul Dowlah Bahadur,
without my knowledge, sent his own aumils into my
jaghires. I accordingly wrote several times to Mr.
Middleton on this business: that his seal was to the
treaty and writing of discharge; why did he not negotiate in my favor? Mr. Middleton replied,'The
Nabob is the master. ' I wrote frequently, but without effect. Being helpless, I represent to you the
state of my affairs, that, notwithstanding the existence of this treaty, I have been treated in this man
? ? ? ? 94 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ner. It is useless for me to stay here. Whatever is
is a compact; whenever any one deviates from his
compact, he meets with no credit for the future;
and the light of mine eyes, Asoph ul Dowlah, wrote
to me that he had sent his own aumils into my jaghires, and would pay ready money from his treasury.
Reflect on my security for his adhering to his future
engagements, from the consideration of his conduct
under his past promises. I do not agree to his ready
money. Let me have my jaghires as formerly; otherwise, leaving this place, I will wait on you at Benares, and thence will go towards Shaljehanabad, because he has not adhered to his engagement. Send letters to Asoph ul Dowlah, and to Mr. Middleton, and
Hussein Reza Khan, and Hyder Beg Khanl, not to molest the Begum's jaghires, and to let them remain, as
formerly, with the Begum's aumils. And it is here
suspected of me that my aumil plundered the property of Mr. John Gordon. The case is this. Mr.
John Gordon arrived at Taunda, a jaghire of mine,
fighting with the zemindars of Acberpore, which belongs to the Khalseh. Accordingly, Mr. John Gordon having come to Taunda, my aumil performed
whatever appertained to his duty. Afterwards Mr.
John Gordon wrote to me to send my people, that
he might come with them to Fyzabad. I sent people accordingly to bring Mr. John Gordon, and the
said gentleman arrived here in complete safety; and
Mr. John Gordon is now present. Ask him yourself
of these matters. Mr. John Gordon will represent
matters in detail; the truth will then become known,
how ill-founded the calumny is. Should you come
here for a few days, it will be very well, and if not,
I will wait on you; and your coming here is very
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY, -SIXTH DAY. 95
necessary, that all my affairs may become arranged.
And send a speedy answer to my letters, and a letter
to Asoph ul Dowlah, and Mr. Middleton, and Hussein
Reza Kha'n, and Hyder Beg Kllhan, on the subject of
ceasing to molest my jaghires. And send me constantly news of your health, for my peace of mind depends thereon. "
This letter was transmitted to Mr. Hastings. I
desire your Lordships will remark, upon this letter,
for it is a most important one indeed. It is hardly worth observing that all this correspondence came out of the various trunks of which your Lordships
have already heard, and that this letter is out of the
trunk of Mr. Hastings's private Persian secretary and
interpreter, Mr. Jonathan Scott. Now, my Lords, in
this letter there are several things worthy of your
Lordships' observation. The first is, that this woman
is not conscious of having ever been accused of any
rebellion: the only accusation that ever came to her
ears was, that Captain Gordon said that his baggage
had been robbed by one of her aumils. She denies
the truth of this charge; and she produces testimonials of their good behavior to him; and, what is the essential point of all, she desires Mr. Hastings to apply to this Mr. John Gordon, and to know from him what truth or falsehood there is in that accusation,
and what weight there is in the attestation she produces. ' "Mr. Gordon is now present," says she;
" ask him yourself of these matters. " This reasonable request was not complied with. Mr. Gordon swears before Sir Elijah Impey to the robbery; but
he never mentions the paper lie had written, in which
he confessed that he owed his life to this very lady.
? ? ? ? 96 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
No inquiry was made into this matter. Colonel Hannay was then alive. Captain Gordon was alive, and
she refers to him: yet that very man was sworn
before Sir Elijah Impey, and accuses his prisoner.
Did the prisoner at your bar make that attestation
known to the Begum, whose letter at that very
time was in his possession, in Mr. Scott's trunk,that very letter in which he is desired to make the
inquiry from Captain Gordon?
Mr. Hastings is acquainted with the facts stated
by the Begum, and with Captain Gordon's accusation. Did he afterwards inform her of this accusation? or did he ask this Captain Gordon one question in India, where the matter might be ventilated? Not one word, my Lords. Therefore we fix upon
him fraud, deceit, and the production of false evidence, after the woman had desired to have the man
who was the evidence against her examined upon
the spot. This he does not do, but with much more
prudence he brings him here. And for what? To
discredit his own testimony, and the written evidence.
And how does he discredit them? There are two
of these papers, which I beg leave to read to your
Lordships.
Copy of a Letter to Jewar and Behar Ali Khdn,
from ir. Gordon.
"Sirs, my indulgent friends, remain under, &c. .
&c. , &c. After compliments, I have the pleasure
to inform you, that yesterday, having taken leave of
you, I passed the night at Noorgunge, and next
morning about ten or eleven o'clock, through your
favor and benevolence, arrived safe at Goondah.
Mir Aboo Buksh Zemindar and Mir Rustum Ali
accompanied me.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. - 97
" To what extent can I prolong the praises of you,
my beneficent friends? May the Supreme Being, for
this benign, compassionate, humane action, have you
in His keeping, and increase your property, and
speedily grant me the pleasure of an interview;
until which time continue to favor me with friendly
letters, and oblige me by any commands in my power
to execute. May your wishes be ever crowned with
success! My compliments," &c. , &c. , &c.
Copy of an Address from Mr. Gordon to the Begum.
" Begum Saib of exalted dignity and generosity,
whom God preserve! After presenting the usual
professions of servitude, &c. , in the customary manner, my address is presented. '" Your gracious letter, in answer to the petition of your servant friom Goondah, exalted me. From
the contents, I became unspeakably impressed with
the honor it conferred. May the Almighty protect
that royal purity, and bestow happiness, increase of
wealth, and prosperity! The welfare of your servant
is entirely owing to your favor and benevolence; a
few days have elapsed since I arrived at Goondah,
with the Colonel Saib.
"This is presented for your Highness's information. I cl:erish hopes from your generosity, that,
considering me in the light of one of your servants,
you will always continue to exalt and honor me with
your gracious letters. May the sun of prosperity continually shine! "
These acknowledgments of the Begum's friendly
disposition and services were concealed, when the
charge was made against this woman at Lucknow
VOL. XII. 7
? ? ? ? 98 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
before Sir Elijah Impey: I wish to impress this upon
your Lordships' mind; and that before Mr. Hastings
left Bengal, in the trunk of Major Scott, his private
Persian interpreter, was this letter. Did he make
that inquiry of Captain Gordon? No. Did he make
that inquiry of Colonel Hannay? Did he make any
inquiry into the matter, after his perusal of these
letters? Or did he give this poor woman any opportunity of obtaining justice against this Captain Gordon, who, after acknowledging that he owed his life to her favor, calumniates and traduces her to her utter destruction? No, he never did; and therefore
he is chargeable, and I charge him, with everything
that is wrongful in Captain Gordon's evidence.
These papers, which carry with them a clear refutation of all the charges against the Begum, are
never once produced, though Captain Gordon was
referred to expressly for inquiry and explanation of
the whole transaction by the woman herself. You
hear nothing of them; there is no appearance of
them in the affidavits; no such papers were laid
before the Supreme Council; none were transmitted
to the Court of Directors: but at last the House of
Commons having come at the truth of this matter,
Mr. Hastings, not daring to deny the existence of
these papers, brings Captain Gordon to be examined
here, in order to prove that papers which he had
himself written were false. Is this to be tolerated?
What will your Lordships think of a man that comes
to attest his own infamy, -to declare that he has
written papers containing falsehoods, and to invalidate the false testimony which he had before given?
Is he to be suffered, I say, to come here, and endeavor to prove the absolute falsity of his own deeds by
his own evidence?
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 99
The next point for your Lordships' consideration
is the evidence which he produces to prove the falsity of a paper written by himself. Why, he himself is the sole evidence. And how does he prove it?
Why, says he, " The reason of my writing that letter
was this: she had sent a person with me as an escort,
and this person was desirous of receiving some proof
that he had done his duty; and therefore I wrote a
complaisant letter. I meant nothing by it. It was
written merely to satisfy the mind of the man. "
Now is that the way in which formal and solemn
letters, written upon great occasions to great people,
are to be explained away?
If he had said nothing
but "Your servant, such a one, has done his duty,"
this explanation might pass. But you see it has
another complexion. It speaks of his owing his life
to her. But if you admit that it is possible (for
possibilities have an unknown extent) that he wrote
such a letter at such a time and for such a purpose,
and that the letter he wrote was false, and that the
falsity of the letter is proved by his own testimony
given in an affidavit which we have also reason to
believe is false, your Lordships must at the same
time admit that it is one of the most complex pieces
of fraud and falsehood that, I believe, ever existed
in the world. But it is worse than all this. There
is another letter, written some days after, which I
will read to you, and which he has not pretended to
say was written only to testify that a messenger had
executed his commission properly.
" Your gracious letter," (he thus writes,) "in
answer to the petition of your servant from Goondah,
exalted me. From the contents, I became unspeakably impressed with the honor it conferred. "
? ? ? ? 100 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
My Lords, this letter was not sent back by a messenger, in acknowledgment of his having done his duty, but was written in consequence of a correspondence in the nature of a petition for something
or other which he made to the Begum. That petition they have suppressed and sunk. It is plain, however, that the petition had been sent, and was
granted; and therefore the apology that is made for
the former letter does not apply to this letter, which
was written afterwards.
How, then, do they attempt to get rid of this difficulty? Why, says Captain Gordon, "The Colonel
Saib (by whom was meant Colonel Hannay) was
not at Goondah, as stated in the letter, but at Succara, about eighteen miles from it, and therefore you ought not to pay much regard to this paper. " But
he does not deny the letter, nor was it possible for
him to deny it. He says Colonel Hannay was not
there. But how do we know whether Colonel Hannay was there or not? We have only his own word
for it. But supposing he was not there, and that it
was clearly proved that he was eighteen miles distant
from it, Major Naylor was certainly with Captain
Gordon at the time. Might not his Persian scribe
(for he does not pretend to say he wrote the letter
himself) take Major Naylor for a colonel, (for he
was the superior officer to Captain Gordon,) and
think him the Colonel Saib? For errors of that kind
may be committed in our own country. Every day
we may take a major for a lieutenant-colonel. This
was an error that might easily have happened in such
a case. He was in as high rank as Colonel Hannay;
for Colonel Hannay at that time was only a major.
I do not believe either of them was properly entitled
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 101
to the name of Colonel Saib. I am ashamed, my
Lords, to be obliged to remark upon this prevarication. Their own endeavors to get rid of their own
written acts by contradictory evidence and false constructions sufficiently clear these women of the crimes of which they were accused; and I may now ask the
prisoner at your bar how he dares to produce Captain
Gordon here, how he dares thus to insult the Peers,
how he dares thus to insult the public justice of his
country, after not having dared to inquire, upon the
spot, of this man, to whom he was referred by the
Begums for an account of this very transaction?
I hope your Lordships have got enough of this
kind of evidence. All the rest is of the same batch,
and of the same description, - made up of nothing
but hearsays, except in one particular only. This I
shall now mention to your Lordships. Colonel Popham and another gentleman have told you, that, in a battle with Cheyt Sing's forces, they took prisoners
two wounded nudjeeves or swordsmen, and that these
men told them that they were sent there by the Begums, - that they had got two rupees and two wounds, but that they thought two rupees a bad compensation for two wounds. These two men, with their
two wounds and two rupees, had, however, been dismissed. It does not appear that this accident was considered by these officers to be of consequence
enough to make them ever tell one word of it to Mr.
Hastings, though they knew he was collecting evidence of the disaffection of the Begums, of all kinds, good, bad, and indifferent, from all sorts of persons.
My Lords, I must beg leave to say a few words
upon this matter; because I consider it as one of the
most outrageous violations of your Lordships' dignity,
? ? ? ? 102 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
and the greatest insult that was ever offered to a
court of justice. A nudjeeve is a soldier armed with
a sword. It appears in evidence that the Nabob had
several corps of nudjeeves in his service; that the
Begums had some nudjeeves; and that Colonel Hannay had a corps of nudjeeves. It is well known that every prince in Hindostan has soldiers of that description, -in like manner, probably, as the princes
of Europe have their guards. The whole, then,
amounts to this: that a story told by two men who
were wounded in an action far from the place from
which they were supposed to come, who were not
regularly examined, not cross-examined, not even
kept for examination, and whose evidence was never
reported, is to be a reason why you are to believe
that these Begums were concerned in a rebellion
against their son, and deserved to forfeit all their
lands and goods, and to suffer the indignities that
we have stated.
My Lords, I am really ashamed to mention so
scandalous a thing; but let us put a case: let us
suppose that we had accused Mr. Hastings of instigating the Rajah of Berar to fall upon some of the country powers, and that the evidence we produced
at your bar to prove it was, that an officer had taken
two nudjeeves, who declared they were instigated by
Mr. Hastings to go into the service of that Rajah:
could you bear such a thing? would you suffer
such evidence to be produced? or do you think that
we should have so little regard for our own reputation as to venture to produce such evidence before you? Agail, we have charged Mr. Hastings with
committiing several acts of violence against the Begums. Let us suppose our proof to be, that two
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 103
persons who never appeared before nor since, that
two grenadiers ill English uniforms, (which would be
a great deal stronger than the case of the nudjeeves,
because they have no particular uniform belonging to
them,) that two English grenadiers, I say, had been
taken prisoners in some action and let go again, who
said that Mr. Hastings had instigated them to make
war upon the Begums: would your Lordships suffer
such evidence to be produced before you? No.
And yet two of the first women in India are to be
stripped of all they have in the world upon no better
evidence than that which you would utterly reject.
You would not disgrace the British peerage, you
would not disgrace this court of justice, you would
not disgrace human reason itself, by confiscating, on
such evidence, the meanest property of the meanlest
wretch. You would not subject to the smallest fine
for the smallest delinquency, upon such evidence. I
will venture to say, that, in an action of assault and
battery, or in an action for the smallest su1m, such evidence would be scouted as odious and contemptible, even supposing that a perfect reliance might be placed
uponi its truth. And yet this is the sort of evidence
upon which the property, the dignity, and the rank
of some of the first persois in Asia are to be destroyed, --by which a British guaranty, and the honor
and dignity of the crown of Great Britain, and of the
Parliament itself, which sent out this man, are to be
forfeited.
Observe, besides, my Lords, that the two swordsmen said they were sent by the Begums. Now they
could not be sent by the Begums in their own person. This was a thing in India impossible. They
might, indeed, have been sent by Jewar and Behar
? ? ? ? 104 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Ali Kh'an: and then we ask again, How came these
ministers not to be called to an account at the time?
2lWhy were they not called upon for their muster-rolls
of these nud jeeves? No, these men and women suffer the penalty, but they never hear the accusation
nor the evidence.
But to proceed with the evidence of this pretended
rebellion. Captain Williams has told your Lordships
that he once had a great number of letters and papers to prove this rebellion of the Begums. But he
declares that he has lost all these letters. A search
was ordered to be made in Mr. Hastings's recordoffice, called a trunk; and accordingly in the trunk
is found a paper worthy of such a place and such a
cause. This letter, which has been made use of to
criminate the Begums, has not their names mentioned, nor is there any possibility of their being included in it. By this paper which is preserved you may judge of the whole of the papers that are lost.
Such a letter, I believe, was never before brought as
evidence in a court of justice. It is a letter said to
have been intercepted, and is as follows.
" To the most noble * * ** *, whose prosperity be
everlasting!
"It is represented, that the august purwannah
[command], having completed his honorable arrival on the 16th of the month in the evening, highly
exalted me. It is ordered that I should charge
Medeporee, and the other enrolled sepoys belonging
to my district, and take bonds from them that none
of them go for service to the Rajah; and that, when
four or five hundred men, nud jeeves and others, are
collected, I should send them to the presence. Ac
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 105
cording to the order, I have written to Brejunekar
Shah Rehemet Ullall, who is in Bhooaparah, charging
him to take bonds from them, and that whatever
sepoys fit for service are collected he should send to
the presence. As at this time the wind is contrary,
the sepoys will not * * * * without travelling charges;
for I have learnt from a letter previously received
from Brejunekar Shah Rehemet Ullah, that the people there also are badly inclined. By the grace of God, the unalterable glory shall be * * * * *. Zehan Beg and the nudjeeves who were in the fort of Aneelah have gone off to Goruckpore. "
This is a letter of somebody or other employed
by somebody or other for the recruiting service, - it
should seem by the word " presence," somebody employed in enlisting forces for the Nabob. The charge against the Begum was, that she had joined with the
rebellious Rajahs to exterminate her son's government and the English influence in that country. In
this very paper you see that the soldiers entering into that service, and officers who are to contract for soldiers, are expressly bound not to join the Rajahs;
and this they produce as proof that the Begums had
joined the Rajahs, and had joined them in a rebellion, for the purpose of exterminating their son, in
the first instance, and the English afterwards.
There is another circumstance which makes their
own acts the refutation of their false pretences. This
letter says that the country is disaffected, and it
mentions the ill-disposed parts of the country. Now
we all know that the country was ill-disposed; and
we may therefore conclude this paper was written
by, and addressed to, some person who was employed
? ? ? ? 106 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
against the persons so ill-disposed, - namely, the very Rajahs so mentioned before. The prisoner's counsel, after producing this paper, had the candor to declare that they did not see what use could be made of it. No, to be sure, they do not see what
use can be made of it for their cause; but I see the use that can be made of it against their cause. I say that the lost papers, upon which they do so much insist, deserve no consideration, when the only paper that they have preserved operates directly against them; and that therefore we may safely infer, that,
if we had the rest of the contents of this trunk, we should probably find them make as strongly against them as this paper does. You have no reason to judge of them otherwise than by the specimen: for how can you judge of what is lost but from what remains?
The man who hid these papers in his trunk never
understood one word of the Persian language, and
consequently was liable to every kind of mistake,
even though he meant well. But who is this man?
Why, it is Captain Williams, -- the man who in his
affidavits never mentioned the Begums without mentioning Saadut Ali. It is Captain Williams, - whom we charge. to have murdered a principal man of the
country' by his own hand, without law or legal process. It is Captain Williams, - one of those British officers whom Mr. Hastings states to be the pests of
the country. This is the man who comes here as
evidence against these women, and produces this
monstrous paper.
All the evidence they had produced to you amounts to no more than that such a man believes such a man heard of something: and to close the whole of this
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 107
hearsay account, Sir Elijah Impey, who always comes
in as a supplement, declares that no man doubted of
the existence of this rebellion, and of the guilt of the
Begums, any more than of the rebellion of 1745: a
comparison which, I must say, is, by way of evidence,
a little indecorous in a chief-justice of India. Your
Lordships are sufficiently acquainted with the history
of that rebellion to know, that, when Lord Lovat was
tried at this bar, the proceedings against him were
not founded on second-hand hearsay. The existence
of the rebellion of 1745 was proved, notwithstandilg
its notoriety; but neither notoriety nor proof would
have signified anything, if Lord Lovat's participation
in it had not been brought home to him directly, personally, and particularly. Yet a chief-justice, sent to
India to represent the sacred majesty of the crown of
England, has gone so far as to say at your bar that
no more doubt could be entertained of the existence
either of the rebellion or the guilt of the Begums
than of the rebellion in 1745. Besides, he forgets
that he himself carried the order to confiscate these
people's property without any trial whatever. But
this is the way of proceeding by an English chief-justice in India, - a chief-justice who had rendered himself the instrument, the letter-carrier, the messenger, I had almost said the executioner of Mr. Hastings.
From this view of the whole matter your Lordships will form an estimate of the spirit of Indian
government and Indian justice. But to blow away
and to put an end to all their false pretences, their
hearsays, and talk of nudjeeves, and wounds, and
the like, I ask, Who is the first witness that we have
produced upon this occasion? It is the Nabob himself, negativing all these pretences. Did he believe
? ? ? ? 108 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
them? Not a word from him of any rebellion, actual
or suspected. Sir Elijah Impey, indeed, said that
he was obliged to wheel round, and to avoid that
dangerous place, Fyzabad. His friends urged him
to this. " For God's sake," say they, " have a reverend care of your sacred person! What will become of the justice of India, what will become of the natives, if you, their legitimate protector, should fall
into the hainds of these wicked, rebellious women at
Fyzabad? " But although the Chief-Justice does this,
the Nabob, whose deposition is said to be the first object of this rebellion, takes leave of Mr. Hastings at
the very moment when it is raging in the highest
possible degree, and gallops into its very focus.
And under what circumstances does he do this?
He had brought some considerable forces with him.
No mall of his rank in that country ever goes without
them. He left a part of these forces with Mr. Hastings, notwithstanding he was going into the centre
of the rebellion. He then went on with a corps of
about a thousand horse. He even left a part of
these with Mr. Middleton, and galloped, attended by
a few horse, into the very capital, where the Begums,
we are told, had ten thousand armed men. He put
himself into their power, and, not satisfied with this,
the very first thing we hear of him after his arrival
is, that he paid his mother a friendly visit, -thus
rushing into the den of a lioness who was going to
destroy her own whelp. Is it to be credited, my
Lords, that a prince would act thus who believed
that a conspiracy was formed against him by his
own mother? Is it to be credited that any man
would trust a mother who, contrary to all the rules
of Nature and policy, had conspired to destroy her
own son?
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 109
Upon this matter your Lordships have the evidence
of Captain Edwards, who was aide-de-camp to the
Nabob, who was about his person, his attendant at
Chunar, and his attendant back again. I am not
producing this to exculpate the Begums,- for I say
you cannot try them here, you have not the parties
before you, they ought to have been tried on the
spot, -- but I am going to demonstrate the iniquity
of this abominable plot beyond all doubt: for it is
necessary your Lordships should know the length,
breadth, and depth of this mystery of iniquity.
Captain Edwards being asked, --" Whether he ever
heard any native of credit and authority in the Nabob's dominions, who appeared to believe the rebellion of the Begums? - A. No, I never did. - Q. Have you any reason to believe that the Nabob gave
credit to it? -- A. I really cannot rightly presume
to say whether the Nabob did or did not; but I am
apt to believe that he did not. - Q. Have you any
reason, and what, to form a belief about it? - A. I
have. I think, if he supposed the rebellion ever
existed at Fyzabad, he would have been the first
person to take and give the alarm to the British
troops. Q. And no such alarm was taken or given
to the British troops? -A. No, I think not: as I
was always about his person, and in the camp, I
think I certainly must have known it or heard of
it; but I never did. "
We assure your Lordships, you will find upon
your printed Minutes, that Captain Edwards says
he was credibly informed that the Nabob left behind him a part of his guard of horse; and that, so
desirous was he to go into the power of this cruel
lioness, his mother, that he advanced, as he is a
? ? ? ? 110'IMPEACHMIENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
vigorous man, and a bold and spirited rider, leaving
all his guards behind him, and rode before them
into the middle of Fyzabad.
before you the horrible state of the whole service;
your Lordships have it fresh in your memories, and
ringing in your ears. You have also heard from
witnesses brought by Mr. Hastings himself, that these
soldiers committed misdemeanors of the very same
kind with those which we have stated. They ought
not, therefore, to be listened to for a moment; and
we aver that it is an aggravation of the prisoner's
crimes, that he has brought the instruments of his
guilt, the persons of whom he has complained as
having ruinled and destroyed that country, and whom
he had engaged, at the Nabob's desire, in the treaty
of Cllhular, to send out of the country, as being a
nuisance in it,- to bring, I say, these people here, to
criininate, at a distance of nine thousand miles, these
unfortunate women, where they have neither attorney
or agent who can from local knowledge cross-examine them. He has the audacity to bring these people here; and in what manner they comport themselves,
when they come here, your Lordships have seen.
There is one of them whom we cannot pass by:
that is, Captain Gordon. The other witnesses, who
appeared here as evidences to criminate the Begums,
did it by rumors and hearsays. They had heard
some person say that the Begums had encouraged
rebellion, always coupling them with Saadut Ali
Khlaln, and sometimes with the Nabob, because there
might have been some probability for their charge
in the transactions with Saadut Ali Khan, which,
though impossible with regard to the Begums, they
thought would implicate him [them? ] in his designs.
But Captain Gordon is to give a different account
of the proceedings.
Captain Gordon was one of Colonel Hannay's
? ? ? ? 92 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
under-farmers. He was hunted out of the country,
and, as one of the Begums says, pursued by a thousand of the zemindars, for robbing the whole country. This woman, through respect to the British name,
that name which guarantied her possessions to her,
receives this Captain Gordon and Captain Williams
with every mark of kindness, hospitality, and protection, that could be given them. She conveys them from the borders to the city of Fyzabad, and from
Fyzabad, her capital, supposed to be the nest of her
rebellion, on to their place of destination. They both
write her letters full of expressions of gratitude and
kindness for the services that they had received. They
then pass on to Lucknow to Sir Elijah Impey, and
there they sink every word of kindness, of any service
or protection that they had received, or of any acknowledgment that they had ever made of it. They
sink all this: not one word of it appears in their
affidavits.
HIow, then, did we come to the knowledge of it?
We got it from Major Gilpin, who was examined in
the course of these proceedings; and we used it in
our charge, from the papers that we hold in our
hands. Mr. Hastings has confessed the fact; and
Mr. Middleton has endeavored to slur it ovqer, but
could not completely conceal it. We have established the fact, and it is in evidence before your Lordships. You have now, then, in this manner, got these testimonials given by English officers in favor of these women; and by the same means the letters of the
latter accusing the former are come to your hands:
and now these same English officers come here with
their recriminatory accusation. Now why did they
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- SIXTH DAY. 93
not make it at Lucknow? Why did not Mr. Hastings, when Mr Middleton had such papers for him in
his hands, why, I ask, did not Mr. Hastings procure
some explanation of the circumstances whilst he was
in India? I will read your Lordships the letter, that
you may not only know, but feel, the iniquity of this
business.
Letter from the Mother of the Vizier to Mr. Hastings;
received the 6th of January, 1782.
"Our situation is pretty well, and your good
health is constantly prayed for. I had sent Behar
Ali Khan to you. Accordingly people invented a
falsehood, that Behar Ali Khan was gone to get the
deputyship of the Subah; and some persons here
were saying,'Wherefore has she sent Behar Ali
Khan to Calcutta to the Nabob Amaud ul Dowlah?
We will never permit the affair to succeed. ' And
accordingly it has so happened. For they say that
you also have not put your seal to the treaty: and
the people here say,' Why does the noble lady correspond with the English gentlemen? ' On this account, I did not send a letter at the time when you came this way. Now the state of affairs here is thus.
On the 27th Zehedja, Asoph ul Dowlah Bahadur,
without my knowledge, sent his own aumils into my
jaghires. I accordingly wrote several times to Mr.
Middleton on this business: that his seal was to the
treaty and writing of discharge; why did he not negotiate in my favor? Mr. Middleton replied,'The
Nabob is the master. ' I wrote frequently, but without effect. Being helpless, I represent to you the
state of my affairs, that, notwithstanding the existence of this treaty, I have been treated in this man
? ? ? ? 94 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ner. It is useless for me to stay here. Whatever is
is a compact; whenever any one deviates from his
compact, he meets with no credit for the future;
and the light of mine eyes, Asoph ul Dowlah, wrote
to me that he had sent his own aumils into my jaghires, and would pay ready money from his treasury.
Reflect on my security for his adhering to his future
engagements, from the consideration of his conduct
under his past promises. I do not agree to his ready
money. Let me have my jaghires as formerly; otherwise, leaving this place, I will wait on you at Benares, and thence will go towards Shaljehanabad, because he has not adhered to his engagement. Send letters to Asoph ul Dowlah, and to Mr. Middleton, and
Hussein Reza Khan, and Hyder Beg Khanl, not to molest the Begum's jaghires, and to let them remain, as
formerly, with the Begum's aumils. And it is here
suspected of me that my aumil plundered the property of Mr. John Gordon. The case is this. Mr.
John Gordon arrived at Taunda, a jaghire of mine,
fighting with the zemindars of Acberpore, which belongs to the Khalseh. Accordingly, Mr. John Gordon having come to Taunda, my aumil performed
whatever appertained to his duty. Afterwards Mr.
John Gordon wrote to me to send my people, that
he might come with them to Fyzabad. I sent people accordingly to bring Mr. John Gordon, and the
said gentleman arrived here in complete safety; and
Mr. John Gordon is now present. Ask him yourself
of these matters. Mr. John Gordon will represent
matters in detail; the truth will then become known,
how ill-founded the calumny is. Should you come
here for a few days, it will be very well, and if not,
I will wait on you; and your coming here is very
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY, -SIXTH DAY. 95
necessary, that all my affairs may become arranged.
And send a speedy answer to my letters, and a letter
to Asoph ul Dowlah, and Mr. Middleton, and Hussein
Reza Kha'n, and Hyder Beg Kllhan, on the subject of
ceasing to molest my jaghires. And send me constantly news of your health, for my peace of mind depends thereon. "
This letter was transmitted to Mr. Hastings. I
desire your Lordships will remark, upon this letter,
for it is a most important one indeed. It is hardly worth observing that all this correspondence came out of the various trunks of which your Lordships
have already heard, and that this letter is out of the
trunk of Mr. Hastings's private Persian secretary and
interpreter, Mr. Jonathan Scott. Now, my Lords, in
this letter there are several things worthy of your
Lordships' observation. The first is, that this woman
is not conscious of having ever been accused of any
rebellion: the only accusation that ever came to her
ears was, that Captain Gordon said that his baggage
had been robbed by one of her aumils. She denies
the truth of this charge; and she produces testimonials of their good behavior to him; and, what is the essential point of all, she desires Mr. Hastings to apply to this Mr. John Gordon, and to know from him what truth or falsehood there is in that accusation,
and what weight there is in the attestation she produces. ' "Mr. Gordon is now present," says she;
" ask him yourself of these matters. " This reasonable request was not complied with. Mr. Gordon swears before Sir Elijah Impey to the robbery; but
he never mentions the paper lie had written, in which
he confessed that he owed his life to this very lady.
? ? ? ? 96 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
No inquiry was made into this matter. Colonel Hannay was then alive. Captain Gordon was alive, and
she refers to him: yet that very man was sworn
before Sir Elijah Impey, and accuses his prisoner.
Did the prisoner at your bar make that attestation
known to the Begum, whose letter at that very
time was in his possession, in Mr. Scott's trunk,that very letter in which he is desired to make the
inquiry from Captain Gordon?
Mr. Hastings is acquainted with the facts stated
by the Begum, and with Captain Gordon's accusation. Did he afterwards inform her of this accusation? or did he ask this Captain Gordon one question in India, where the matter might be ventilated? Not one word, my Lords. Therefore we fix upon
him fraud, deceit, and the production of false evidence, after the woman had desired to have the man
who was the evidence against her examined upon
the spot. This he does not do, but with much more
prudence he brings him here. And for what? To
discredit his own testimony, and the written evidence.
And how does he discredit them? There are two
of these papers, which I beg leave to read to your
Lordships.
Copy of a Letter to Jewar and Behar Ali Khdn,
from ir. Gordon.
"Sirs, my indulgent friends, remain under, &c. .
&c. , &c. After compliments, I have the pleasure
to inform you, that yesterday, having taken leave of
you, I passed the night at Noorgunge, and next
morning about ten or eleven o'clock, through your
favor and benevolence, arrived safe at Goondah.
Mir Aboo Buksh Zemindar and Mir Rustum Ali
accompanied me.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. - 97
" To what extent can I prolong the praises of you,
my beneficent friends? May the Supreme Being, for
this benign, compassionate, humane action, have you
in His keeping, and increase your property, and
speedily grant me the pleasure of an interview;
until which time continue to favor me with friendly
letters, and oblige me by any commands in my power
to execute. May your wishes be ever crowned with
success! My compliments," &c. , &c. , &c.
Copy of an Address from Mr. Gordon to the Begum.
" Begum Saib of exalted dignity and generosity,
whom God preserve! After presenting the usual
professions of servitude, &c. , in the customary manner, my address is presented. '" Your gracious letter, in answer to the petition of your servant friom Goondah, exalted me. From
the contents, I became unspeakably impressed with
the honor it conferred. May the Almighty protect
that royal purity, and bestow happiness, increase of
wealth, and prosperity! The welfare of your servant
is entirely owing to your favor and benevolence; a
few days have elapsed since I arrived at Goondah,
with the Colonel Saib.
"This is presented for your Highness's information. I cl:erish hopes from your generosity, that,
considering me in the light of one of your servants,
you will always continue to exalt and honor me with
your gracious letters. May the sun of prosperity continually shine! "
These acknowledgments of the Begum's friendly
disposition and services were concealed, when the
charge was made against this woman at Lucknow
VOL. XII. 7
? ? ? ? 98 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
before Sir Elijah Impey: I wish to impress this upon
your Lordships' mind; and that before Mr. Hastings
left Bengal, in the trunk of Major Scott, his private
Persian interpreter, was this letter. Did he make
that inquiry of Captain Gordon? No. Did he make
that inquiry of Colonel Hannay? Did he make any
inquiry into the matter, after his perusal of these
letters? Or did he give this poor woman any opportunity of obtaining justice against this Captain Gordon, who, after acknowledging that he owed his life to her favor, calumniates and traduces her to her utter destruction? No, he never did; and therefore
he is chargeable, and I charge him, with everything
that is wrongful in Captain Gordon's evidence.
These papers, which carry with them a clear refutation of all the charges against the Begum, are
never once produced, though Captain Gordon was
referred to expressly for inquiry and explanation of
the whole transaction by the woman herself. You
hear nothing of them; there is no appearance of
them in the affidavits; no such papers were laid
before the Supreme Council; none were transmitted
to the Court of Directors: but at last the House of
Commons having come at the truth of this matter,
Mr. Hastings, not daring to deny the existence of
these papers, brings Captain Gordon to be examined
here, in order to prove that papers which he had
himself written were false. Is this to be tolerated?
What will your Lordships think of a man that comes
to attest his own infamy, -to declare that he has
written papers containing falsehoods, and to invalidate the false testimony which he had before given?
Is he to be suffered, I say, to come here, and endeavor to prove the absolute falsity of his own deeds by
his own evidence?
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 99
The next point for your Lordships' consideration
is the evidence which he produces to prove the falsity of a paper written by himself. Why, he himself is the sole evidence. And how does he prove it?
Why, says he, " The reason of my writing that letter
was this: she had sent a person with me as an escort,
and this person was desirous of receiving some proof
that he had done his duty; and therefore I wrote a
complaisant letter. I meant nothing by it. It was
written merely to satisfy the mind of the man. "
Now is that the way in which formal and solemn
letters, written upon great occasions to great people,
are to be explained away?
If he had said nothing
but "Your servant, such a one, has done his duty,"
this explanation might pass. But you see it has
another complexion. It speaks of his owing his life
to her. But if you admit that it is possible (for
possibilities have an unknown extent) that he wrote
such a letter at such a time and for such a purpose,
and that the letter he wrote was false, and that the
falsity of the letter is proved by his own testimony
given in an affidavit which we have also reason to
believe is false, your Lordships must at the same
time admit that it is one of the most complex pieces
of fraud and falsehood that, I believe, ever existed
in the world. But it is worse than all this. There
is another letter, written some days after, which I
will read to you, and which he has not pretended to
say was written only to testify that a messenger had
executed his commission properly.
" Your gracious letter," (he thus writes,) "in
answer to the petition of your servant from Goondah,
exalted me. From the contents, I became unspeakably impressed with the honor it conferred. "
? ? ? ? 100 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
My Lords, this letter was not sent back by a messenger, in acknowledgment of his having done his duty, but was written in consequence of a correspondence in the nature of a petition for something
or other which he made to the Begum. That petition they have suppressed and sunk. It is plain, however, that the petition had been sent, and was
granted; and therefore the apology that is made for
the former letter does not apply to this letter, which
was written afterwards.
How, then, do they attempt to get rid of this difficulty? Why, says Captain Gordon, "The Colonel
Saib (by whom was meant Colonel Hannay) was
not at Goondah, as stated in the letter, but at Succara, about eighteen miles from it, and therefore you ought not to pay much regard to this paper. " But
he does not deny the letter, nor was it possible for
him to deny it. He says Colonel Hannay was not
there. But how do we know whether Colonel Hannay was there or not? We have only his own word
for it. But supposing he was not there, and that it
was clearly proved that he was eighteen miles distant
from it, Major Naylor was certainly with Captain
Gordon at the time. Might not his Persian scribe
(for he does not pretend to say he wrote the letter
himself) take Major Naylor for a colonel, (for he
was the superior officer to Captain Gordon,) and
think him the Colonel Saib? For errors of that kind
may be committed in our own country. Every day
we may take a major for a lieutenant-colonel. This
was an error that might easily have happened in such
a case. He was in as high rank as Colonel Hannay;
for Colonel Hannay at that time was only a major.
I do not believe either of them was properly entitled
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 101
to the name of Colonel Saib. I am ashamed, my
Lords, to be obliged to remark upon this prevarication. Their own endeavors to get rid of their own
written acts by contradictory evidence and false constructions sufficiently clear these women of the crimes of which they were accused; and I may now ask the
prisoner at your bar how he dares to produce Captain
Gordon here, how he dares thus to insult the Peers,
how he dares thus to insult the public justice of his
country, after not having dared to inquire, upon the
spot, of this man, to whom he was referred by the
Begums for an account of this very transaction?
I hope your Lordships have got enough of this
kind of evidence. All the rest is of the same batch,
and of the same description, - made up of nothing
but hearsays, except in one particular only. This I
shall now mention to your Lordships. Colonel Popham and another gentleman have told you, that, in a battle with Cheyt Sing's forces, they took prisoners
two wounded nudjeeves or swordsmen, and that these
men told them that they were sent there by the Begums, - that they had got two rupees and two wounds, but that they thought two rupees a bad compensation for two wounds. These two men, with their
two wounds and two rupees, had, however, been dismissed. It does not appear that this accident was considered by these officers to be of consequence
enough to make them ever tell one word of it to Mr.
Hastings, though they knew he was collecting evidence of the disaffection of the Begums, of all kinds, good, bad, and indifferent, from all sorts of persons.
My Lords, I must beg leave to say a few words
upon this matter; because I consider it as one of the
most outrageous violations of your Lordships' dignity,
? ? ? ? 102 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
and the greatest insult that was ever offered to a
court of justice. A nudjeeve is a soldier armed with
a sword. It appears in evidence that the Nabob had
several corps of nudjeeves in his service; that the
Begums had some nudjeeves; and that Colonel Hannay had a corps of nudjeeves. It is well known that every prince in Hindostan has soldiers of that description, -in like manner, probably, as the princes
of Europe have their guards. The whole, then,
amounts to this: that a story told by two men who
were wounded in an action far from the place from
which they were supposed to come, who were not
regularly examined, not cross-examined, not even
kept for examination, and whose evidence was never
reported, is to be a reason why you are to believe
that these Begums were concerned in a rebellion
against their son, and deserved to forfeit all their
lands and goods, and to suffer the indignities that
we have stated.
My Lords, I am really ashamed to mention so
scandalous a thing; but let us put a case: let us
suppose that we had accused Mr. Hastings of instigating the Rajah of Berar to fall upon some of the country powers, and that the evidence we produced
at your bar to prove it was, that an officer had taken
two nudjeeves, who declared they were instigated by
Mr. Hastings to go into the service of that Rajah:
could you bear such a thing? would you suffer
such evidence to be produced? or do you think that
we should have so little regard for our own reputation as to venture to produce such evidence before you? Agail, we have charged Mr. Hastings with
committiing several acts of violence against the Begums. Let us suppose our proof to be, that two
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 103
persons who never appeared before nor since, that
two grenadiers ill English uniforms, (which would be
a great deal stronger than the case of the nudjeeves,
because they have no particular uniform belonging to
them,) that two English grenadiers, I say, had been
taken prisoners in some action and let go again, who
said that Mr. Hastings had instigated them to make
war upon the Begums: would your Lordships suffer
such evidence to be produced before you? No.
And yet two of the first women in India are to be
stripped of all they have in the world upon no better
evidence than that which you would utterly reject.
You would not disgrace the British peerage, you
would not disgrace this court of justice, you would
not disgrace human reason itself, by confiscating, on
such evidence, the meanest property of the meanlest
wretch. You would not subject to the smallest fine
for the smallest delinquency, upon such evidence. I
will venture to say, that, in an action of assault and
battery, or in an action for the smallest su1m, such evidence would be scouted as odious and contemptible, even supposing that a perfect reliance might be placed
uponi its truth. And yet this is the sort of evidence
upon which the property, the dignity, and the rank
of some of the first persois in Asia are to be destroyed, --by which a British guaranty, and the honor
and dignity of the crown of Great Britain, and of the
Parliament itself, which sent out this man, are to be
forfeited.
Observe, besides, my Lords, that the two swordsmen said they were sent by the Begums. Now they
could not be sent by the Begums in their own person. This was a thing in India impossible. They
might, indeed, have been sent by Jewar and Behar
? ? ? ? 104 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Ali Kh'an: and then we ask again, How came these
ministers not to be called to an account at the time?
2lWhy were they not called upon for their muster-rolls
of these nud jeeves? No, these men and women suffer the penalty, but they never hear the accusation
nor the evidence.
But to proceed with the evidence of this pretended
rebellion. Captain Williams has told your Lordships
that he once had a great number of letters and papers to prove this rebellion of the Begums. But he
declares that he has lost all these letters. A search
was ordered to be made in Mr. Hastings's recordoffice, called a trunk; and accordingly in the trunk
is found a paper worthy of such a place and such a
cause. This letter, which has been made use of to
criminate the Begums, has not their names mentioned, nor is there any possibility of their being included in it. By this paper which is preserved you may judge of the whole of the papers that are lost.
Such a letter, I believe, was never before brought as
evidence in a court of justice. It is a letter said to
have been intercepted, and is as follows.
" To the most noble * * ** *, whose prosperity be
everlasting!
"It is represented, that the august purwannah
[command], having completed his honorable arrival on the 16th of the month in the evening, highly
exalted me. It is ordered that I should charge
Medeporee, and the other enrolled sepoys belonging
to my district, and take bonds from them that none
of them go for service to the Rajah; and that, when
four or five hundred men, nud jeeves and others, are
collected, I should send them to the presence. Ac
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 105
cording to the order, I have written to Brejunekar
Shah Rehemet Ullall, who is in Bhooaparah, charging
him to take bonds from them, and that whatever
sepoys fit for service are collected he should send to
the presence. As at this time the wind is contrary,
the sepoys will not * * * * without travelling charges;
for I have learnt from a letter previously received
from Brejunekar Shah Rehemet Ullah, that the people there also are badly inclined. By the grace of God, the unalterable glory shall be * * * * *. Zehan Beg and the nudjeeves who were in the fort of Aneelah have gone off to Goruckpore. "
This is a letter of somebody or other employed
by somebody or other for the recruiting service, - it
should seem by the word " presence," somebody employed in enlisting forces for the Nabob. The charge against the Begum was, that she had joined with the
rebellious Rajahs to exterminate her son's government and the English influence in that country. In
this very paper you see that the soldiers entering into that service, and officers who are to contract for soldiers, are expressly bound not to join the Rajahs;
and this they produce as proof that the Begums had
joined the Rajahs, and had joined them in a rebellion, for the purpose of exterminating their son, in
the first instance, and the English afterwards.
There is another circumstance which makes their
own acts the refutation of their false pretences. This
letter says that the country is disaffected, and it
mentions the ill-disposed parts of the country. Now
we all know that the country was ill-disposed; and
we may therefore conclude this paper was written
by, and addressed to, some person who was employed
? ? ? ? 106 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
against the persons so ill-disposed, - namely, the very Rajahs so mentioned before. The prisoner's counsel, after producing this paper, had the candor to declare that they did not see what use could be made of it. No, to be sure, they do not see what
use can be made of it for their cause; but I see the use that can be made of it against their cause. I say that the lost papers, upon which they do so much insist, deserve no consideration, when the only paper that they have preserved operates directly against them; and that therefore we may safely infer, that,
if we had the rest of the contents of this trunk, we should probably find them make as strongly against them as this paper does. You have no reason to judge of them otherwise than by the specimen: for how can you judge of what is lost but from what remains?
The man who hid these papers in his trunk never
understood one word of the Persian language, and
consequently was liable to every kind of mistake,
even though he meant well. But who is this man?
Why, it is Captain Williams, -- the man who in his
affidavits never mentioned the Begums without mentioning Saadut Ali. It is Captain Williams, - whom we charge. to have murdered a principal man of the
country' by his own hand, without law or legal process. It is Captain Williams, - one of those British officers whom Mr. Hastings states to be the pests of
the country. This is the man who comes here as
evidence against these women, and produces this
monstrous paper.
All the evidence they had produced to you amounts to no more than that such a man believes such a man heard of something: and to close the whole of this
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 107
hearsay account, Sir Elijah Impey, who always comes
in as a supplement, declares that no man doubted of
the existence of this rebellion, and of the guilt of the
Begums, any more than of the rebellion of 1745: a
comparison which, I must say, is, by way of evidence,
a little indecorous in a chief-justice of India. Your
Lordships are sufficiently acquainted with the history
of that rebellion to know, that, when Lord Lovat was
tried at this bar, the proceedings against him were
not founded on second-hand hearsay. The existence
of the rebellion of 1745 was proved, notwithstandilg
its notoriety; but neither notoriety nor proof would
have signified anything, if Lord Lovat's participation
in it had not been brought home to him directly, personally, and particularly. Yet a chief-justice, sent to
India to represent the sacred majesty of the crown of
England, has gone so far as to say at your bar that
no more doubt could be entertained of the existence
either of the rebellion or the guilt of the Begums
than of the rebellion in 1745. Besides, he forgets
that he himself carried the order to confiscate these
people's property without any trial whatever. But
this is the way of proceeding by an English chief-justice in India, - a chief-justice who had rendered himself the instrument, the letter-carrier, the messenger, I had almost said the executioner of Mr. Hastings.
From this view of the whole matter your Lordships will form an estimate of the spirit of Indian
government and Indian justice. But to blow away
and to put an end to all their false pretences, their
hearsays, and talk of nudjeeves, and wounds, and
the like, I ask, Who is the first witness that we have
produced upon this occasion? It is the Nabob himself, negativing all these pretences. Did he believe
? ? ? ? 108 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
them? Not a word from him of any rebellion, actual
or suspected. Sir Elijah Impey, indeed, said that
he was obliged to wheel round, and to avoid that
dangerous place, Fyzabad. His friends urged him
to this. " For God's sake," say they, " have a reverend care of your sacred person! What will become of the justice of India, what will become of the natives, if you, their legitimate protector, should fall
into the hainds of these wicked, rebellious women at
Fyzabad? " But although the Chief-Justice does this,
the Nabob, whose deposition is said to be the first object of this rebellion, takes leave of Mr. Hastings at
the very moment when it is raging in the highest
possible degree, and gallops into its very focus.
And under what circumstances does he do this?
He had brought some considerable forces with him.
No mall of his rank in that country ever goes without
them. He left a part of these forces with Mr. Hastings, notwithstanding he was going into the centre
of the rebellion. He then went on with a corps of
about a thousand horse. He even left a part of
these with Mr. Middleton, and galloped, attended by
a few horse, into the very capital, where the Begums,
we are told, had ten thousand armed men. He put
himself into their power, and, not satisfied with this,
the very first thing we hear of him after his arrival
is, that he paid his mother a friendly visit, -thus
rushing into the den of a lioness who was going to
destroy her own whelp. Is it to be credited, my
Lords, that a prince would act thus who believed
that a conspiracy was formed against him by his
own mother? Is it to be credited that any man
would trust a mother who, contrary to all the rules
of Nature and policy, had conspired to destroy her
own son?
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 109
Upon this matter your Lordships have the evidence
of Captain Edwards, who was aide-de-camp to the
Nabob, who was about his person, his attendant at
Chunar, and his attendant back again. I am not
producing this to exculpate the Begums,- for I say
you cannot try them here, you have not the parties
before you, they ought to have been tried on the
spot, -- but I am going to demonstrate the iniquity
of this abominable plot beyond all doubt: for it is
necessary your Lordships should know the length,
breadth, and depth of this mystery of iniquity.
Captain Edwards being asked, --" Whether he ever
heard any native of credit and authority in the Nabob's dominions, who appeared to believe the rebellion of the Begums? - A. No, I never did. - Q. Have you any reason to believe that the Nabob gave
credit to it? -- A. I really cannot rightly presume
to say whether the Nabob did or did not; but I am
apt to believe that he did not. - Q. Have you any
reason, and what, to form a belief about it? - A. I
have. I think, if he supposed the rebellion ever
existed at Fyzabad, he would have been the first
person to take and give the alarm to the British
troops. Q. And no such alarm was taken or given
to the British troops? -A. No, I think not: as I
was always about his person, and in the camp, I
think I certainly must have known it or heard of
it; but I never did. "
We assure your Lordships, you will find upon
your printed Minutes, that Captain Edwards says
he was credibly informed that the Nabob left behind him a part of his guard of horse; and that, so
desirous was he to go into the power of this cruel
lioness, his mother, that he advanced, as he is a
? ? ? ? 110'IMPEACHMIENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
vigorous man, and a bold and spirited rider, leaving
all his guards behind him, and rode before them
into the middle of Fyzabad.
