regard whatever to the said representations,
nor make any inquiry into the truth of the same, but
did accuse the said widow of Bulwant Sing and the
Rajah aforesaid of gross presumption for the same;
and, listening to the representations of the person accused, (viz.
nor make any inquiry into the truth of the same, but
did accuse the said widow of Bulwant Sing and the
Rajah aforesaid of gross presumption for the same;
and, listening to the representations of the person accused, (viz.
Edmund Burke
Though he had shed much English blood, you reestablished him in all his power,
you gave him more than he before possessed; and
you had no reason to repent your generosity. Your
magnanimity and justice proved to be the best policy, and was the subject of admiration from one end of India to the other. But Mr. Hastings had other
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. SECOND DAY. 291
maxims and other principles. You are weak, he
says, and therefore you ought never to forgive.
Indeed, Mr. Hastings never does forgive. The Rajah was weak, and he persecuted him; Mr. Hastings
was weak, and he lost his prey. He went up the
country with the rapacity, but not with the talons
and beak, of a vulture. He went to look for plunder; but he was himself plundered, the country was
ravaged, and the prey escaped.
After the escape of Cheyt Sing, there still existed
in one corner of the country some further food for
Mr. Hastings's rapacity. There was a place called
Bidjegur, one of those forts which Mr. Hastings declared could not be safely left in the possession of the
Rajah; measures were therefore taken to obtain possession of this place, soon after the flight of its unfortunate proprietor. And what did he find in it? A great and powerful garrison? No, my Lords: he
found in it the wives and family of the Rajah; he
found it inhabited by two hundred women, and defended by a garrison of eunuchs and a few feeble
militia-men. This fortress was supposed by him
to contain some money, which he hoped to lay hold
of when all other means of rapacity had escaped him.
He first sends (and you have it on your minutes) a
most cruel, most atrocious, and most insulting message to these unfortunate women; one of whom, a
principal personage of the family, we find him in the
subsequent negotiation scandalizing in one minute,
and declaring to be a woman of respectable character
in the next,- treating her by turns as a prostitute
and as an amiable woman, as best suited the purposes of the hour. This woman, with two hundred
of her sex, he found in Bidjegur. Whatever money
? ? ? ? 292 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
they had was their own property; and as such Cheyt
Sing, who had visited the place before his flight, had
left it for their support, thinking that it would be
secure to them as their property, because they were
persons wholly void of guilt, as they must needs have
been. This money the Rajah might have carried off
with him; but he left it them, and we must presume
that it was their property; and no attempt was ever
made by Mr. Hastings to prove otherwise. They had
no other property that could be found. It was the
only means of subsistence for themselves, their children, their domestics, and dependants, and for the whole female part of that once illustrious and next
to royal family.
But to proceed. A detachment of soldiers was sent
to seize the forts [fort? ]. Soldiers are habitually
men of some generosity; even when they are acting
in a bad cause, they do not wholly lose the military
spirit. But Mr. Hastings, fearing that they might
not be animated with the same lust of plunder as
himself, stimulated them to demand the plunder of
the place, and expresses his hopes that no composition would be made with these women, and that not one shilling of the booty would be allowed them. He
does not trust to their acting as soldiers who have
their fortunes to make; but he stimulates and urges
them not to give way to the generous passions and
feelings of men.
He thus writes from Benares, the 22d of October,
1781, ten o'clock in the morning. "I am this instant favored with yours of yesterday; mine to you
of the same date has before this time acquainted you
with my resolutions and sentiments respecting the
Ranny. I think every demand she has made to you,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 293
except that of safety and respect for her person, is
unreasonable. If the reports brought to me are
true, your rejecting her offers, or any negotiation
with her, would soon obtain you possession of the fort
upon your own terms. I apprehend that she will
contrive to defraud the captors of a considerable
part of the booty by being suffered to retire without
examination; but this is your consideration, and not
mine. I should be sorry that your officers and soldiers lost any part of the reward to which they are so well entitled; but I cannot make any objection, as
you must be the best judge of the expediency of the
promised indulgence to the Ranny. What you have
engaged for I will certainly ratify; but as to permitting the Ranny to hold the purgunnah of IIurluk,
or any other in the zemindary, without being subject
to the authority of the zemindar, or any lands whatever, or indeed making any conditions with her for a provision, I will never consent to it. "
My Lords, you have seen the principles upon
which this man justifies his conduct. Here his real
nature, character, and disposition break out. These
women had been guilty of no rebellion; he never
charged them with any crime but that of having
wealth; and yet you see with what ferocity he pursues everything that belonged to the destined object of his cruel, inhuman, and more than tragic revenge;
"If," says he, " you have made an agreement with
them, and will insist upon it, I will keep it; but if
you have not, I beseech you not to make any. Don't
give them anything; suffer no stipulations whatever
of a provision for them. The capitulation I will ratify, provided it contains no article of future provision for them. " This he positively forbade; so that his
? ? ? ? 294 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
bloodthirsty vengeance would have sent out these
two hundred innocent women to starve naked in the
world.
But he not only declares that the money found
in the fort is the soldiers', he adds, that he should
be sorry, if they lost a shilling of it. So that you
have here a man not only declaring that the money
was theirs, directly contrary to the Company's positive orders upon other similar occasions, and after he had himself declared that prize-money was poison to soldiers, but directly-inciting them to insist upon their right to it.
A month had been allowed by proclamation for
the submission of all persons who had been in rebellion, which submission was to entitle them to indemnity. But, my Lords, he endeavored to break
the public faith with these women, by inciting the
soldiers to make no capitulation with them, and thus
depriving them of the benefit of the proclamation, by
preventing their voluntary surrender.
[Mr. Burke here read the proclamation. ]
From the date of this proclamation it appears that
the surrender of the fort was clearly within the time
given,to those who had been guilty of the most
atrocious acts of-rebellion to repair to their homes
and enjoy an indemnity. These women had never
quitted their homes, nor had they been charged with
rebellion, and yet they were cruelly excluded from
the general indemnity; and after the army had taken
unconditional possession of the fort, they were turned
out of it, and ordered to the quarters of the commanding officer, Major Popham. This officer had received from Mr. Hastings a power to rob them, a
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SECOND DAY. 295
power to plunder them, a power to distribute the
plunder, but no power to give them any allowance,
nor any authority even to receive them.
In this disgraceful affair the soldiers showed a
generosity which Mr. Hastings neither showed nor
would have suffered, if he could have prevented it.
They agreed amongst themselves to give to these
women three lacs of rupees, and some trifle more;
and the rest was divided as a prey among the army.
The sum found in the fort was about 238,0001. , not
the smallest part of which was in any way proved
to be Cheyt Sing's property, or the property of any
person but the unfortunate women who were found
in the possession of it.
The plunder of the fort being thus given to the
soldiers, what does Mr. Hastings next do? He is
astonished and stupefied to find so much unprofitable violence, so much tyranny, and so little pecuniary advantage, - so much bloodshed, without any profit to the Company. He therefore breaks his
faith with the soldiers; declares, that, having no
right to the money, they must refund it to the Company-; and on their refusal, he instituted a suit
against them. With respect to the three lacs of
rupees, or 30,0001. , which was to be given to these
women, have we a scrap of paper to prove its payment? is there a single receipt or voucher to verify their having received one sixpence of it? I am rati}. :o inclined to think that they did receive it, or
some part of it; but I don't know a greater crime
in public officers than to have no kind of vouchers
for the'disposal of any large sums of money which
pass through their hands: but this, my Lords, is
the great vice of Mr. Hastings's government.
? ? ? ? 296 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
I have briefly taken notice of the claim which Mr.
Hastings thought proper to make, on the part of
the Company, to the treasure found in the fort of
Bidjegur, after he had instigated the army to claim
it as the right of the captors. Your Lordships will
not be at a loss to account for this strange and barefaced inconsistency. This excellent Governor foresaw that he would have a bad account of this business to give to the contractors in Leadenhall Street, who consider laws, religion, morality, and the principles of state policy of empires as mere questions
of profit and loss. Finding that he had dismal accounts to give of great sums expended without any
returns, he had recourse to the only expedient that
was left him. He had broken his faith with the
ladies in the fort, by not suffering his officers to
grant them that indemnity which his proclamation
offered. Then, finding that the soldiers had taken
him at his word, and appropriated the treasure to
their own use, he next broke his faith with them.
A constant breach of faith is a maxim with him.
He claims the treasure for the Company, and institutes a suit before Sir Elijah Impey, who gives the
money to the Company, and not to the soldiers.
The soldiers appeal; and since the beginning of this
trial, I believe even very lately, it has been decided
by the Council that the letter of Mr. Hastings was
not, as Sir Elijah Impey pretended, a mere private
letter, because it had " Dear Sir," in it, but a public order, authorizing the soldiers to divide the money
among themselves.
Thus 200,0001. was distributed among the soldiers; 400,0001. was taken away by Cheyt Sing, to
be pillaged by all the Company's enemies through
? ? ? ? . SPEECH IN REPLY. - SECOND DAY. 297
whose countries he passed; and so ended one of
the great sources from which this great financier
intended to supply the exigencies of the Company,
and recruit their exhausted finances.
By this proceeding, my Lords, the national honor
is disgraced, all the rules of justice are violated, and
every sanction, human and divine, trampled upon.
We have, on one side, a country ruined, a noble
family destroyed, a rebellion raised by outrage and
quelled by bloodshed, the national faith pledged to
indemnity, and that indemnity faithlessly withheld
from helpless, defenceless women; while the other
side of the picture is equally unfavorable. The East
India Company have had their treasure wasted, their
credit weakened, their honor polluted, and their
troops employed against their own subjects, when
their services were required against foreign enemies.
My Lords, it only remains for me, at this time, to
make a few observations upon some proceedings of
the prisoner respecting the revenue of Benares. I
must first state to your Lordships that in the year
1780 he made a demand upon that country, which,
by his own account, if it had been complied with,
would only have left 23,0001. a year for the maintenance of the Rajah and his family. I wish to have this account read, for the purpose of verifying
the observations which I shall have to make to your
Lordships.
[Here the account was read. ]
I must now observe to your Lordships, that Mr.
Markham and Mr. Hastings have stated the Rajah's
net revenue at forty-six lacs: but the accounts before you state it at forty lacs only. Mr. Hastings
? ? ? ? 29:8 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
had himself declared that he did not think the country could safely yield more, and that any attempt
to extract more would be ruinous.
Your Lordships will observe that the first of these
estimates is unaccompanied with any document whatever, and that it is contradicted by the papers of receipt and the articles of account, from all of which it appears that the country never yielded more than
forty lacs during the time that Mr. Hastings had
it in his possession; and you may be sure he
squeezed as much out of it- as he could. He had
his own Residents, -- first Mr. Markham, then Mr.
Fowke, then Mr. Grant; they all went up with a
design to make the most of it. They endeavored
to do so; but they never could screw it up to more
than forty lacs by all the violent means which they
employed. The ordinary subsidy, as paid at Calcutta by the Rajah, amounted to twenty-two lacs;
and it is therefore clearly proved by this paper,
that Mr. Hastings's demand of fifty lacs (500,0001. ),
joined to the subsidies, was more than the whole
revenue which the country could yield. What
hoarded treasure the Rajah possessed, and which
Mr. Hastings says he carried off with him, does
not appear. That it was any considerable sum is
more than Mr. Hastings knows, more than can be
proved, more than is probable. He had not, in
his precipitate flight, any means, I think, of carrying away a great sum. It further appears from
these accounts, that, after the payment of the subsidy, there would only have been left 18,0001. a year
for the support of the Rajah's family and establishments.
Your Lordships have now a standard, not a vision
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 299
ary one, but a standard verified by accurate calculation and authentic accounts. You may now fairly estimate the avarice and rapacity of this man, who describes countries to be enormously rich in order that he may be justified in pillaging them. But however
insatiable the prisoner's avarice may be, he has other
objects in view, other* passions rankling in his heart,
besides the lust of money. He was not ignorant, and
we have proved it by his own confession, that his pretended expectation of benefit to the Company could
not be realized; but he well knew that by enforcing
his demands he should utterly and effectually ruin a
man whom he mortally hated and abhorred, - a man
who could not, by any sacrifices offered to the avarice, avert the cruelty of his implacable enemy. As
long as truth remains, as long as figures stand,
as long as two and'two are four, as long as there
is mathematical and arithmetical demonstration, so
long shall his cruelty, rage, ravage, and oppression
remain evident to an astonished posterity.
I shall undertake, my Lords, when this court meets
again, to develop the consequences of this wicked proceeding. I shall then show you that that part of
the Rajah's family which he left behind him, and
which Mr. Hastings pretended to take under his protection, was also ruined, undone, and destroyed; and
that the once beautiful country of Benares, which he
has had the impudence to represent as being still
in a prosperous condition, was left by him in such
a state as would move pity in any tyrant in the
world except the one who now stands before you.
? ? ? ? SPE E C H
GENERAL REPLY.
THIRD DAY: TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1794.
MY LORDS, -- We are called, with an awful
voice, to come forth and make good our charge
against the prisoner at your bar; but. as a long time
has elapsed since your Lordships heard that charge, I
shall take the liberty of requesting my worthy fellow
Manager near me to read that part to your Lordships
which I am just now going to observe upon, that you
may be the better able to apply my observations to the
letter of the charge.
[Mr. Wyndham reads. ]
" That the said Warren Hastings, having, as aforesaid, expelled the said Cheyt Sing from his dominions, did, of his own usurped authority, and without any
communication with or any approbation given by the
other members of the Council, nominate and appoint
Rajah Mehip Narrain to the government of the provinces of Benares, and did appoint his father, Durbege Sing, as administrator of his authority, and did give
to the British Resident, William Markham, a controlling authority over both; and'did farther abrogate and set aside all treaties and agreements which subsisted
between the state of Benares and the British nation;
and did arbitrarily and tyrannically, of his mere au
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- THIRD DAY. 301
thority, raise the tribute to the sum of four hundred thousand pounds sterling, or thereabouts; did
further wantonly and illegally impose certain oppressive duties upon goods and merchandise, to the great injury of trade and ruin of the provinces; and did farther dispose of, as his own, the property within the said provinces, by granting the same, or parts thereof,
in pensions to such persons as he thought fit.
"That the said Warren Hastings did, some time in
the year 1782, enter into a clandestine correspondence
with William Markham, Esquire, the then Resident
at Benares, which said Markham had been by him,
the said Warren Hastings, obtruded into the said office, contrary to the positive orders of the Court of Directors; and, in consequence of the representations
of the said Markham, did, under pretence that the
new excessive rent or tribute was in arrear, and that
the affairs of the provinces were likely to fall into
confusion, authorize and impower him, by his own
private authority, to remove the said Durbege Sing
from his office and deprive him of his estate.
"That the said Durbege Sing was, by the private
orders and authorities given by the said Warren
Hastings, and in consequence of the representations
aforesaid, violently thrown into prison, and cruelly
confined therein, under pretence of the non-payment
of the arrears of the tribute aforesaid.
" That the widow of Bulwant Sing, and the Rajah
Mehip Narrain, did pointed. y accuse the said Markham
of being the sole cause of any delay in the payment
of the tribute aforesaid, and did offer to prove the
innocence of the said Durbege Sing, and also to prove
that the faults ascribed to him were solely the faults
of the said Markham; yet the said Warren Hastings
? ? ? ? ~02 IMPEACHMENT OPF WARREN HASTINGS.
did pay no.
regard whatever to the said representations,
nor make any inquiry into the truth of the same, but
did accuse the said widow of Bulwant Sing and the
Rajah aforesaid of gross presumption for the same;
and, listening to the representations of the person accused, (viz. , the Resident Markham,) did continue
to confine the said Durbege Sing in prison, and did
invest the Resident Markham with authority to bestow
his office upon whomsoever he pleased. ' That the said Markham did bestow the said office
of administrator of the provinces of Benares upon a
certain person named Jagher Deo Seo, who, in order
to gratify the arbitrary demands of the said Warren
Hastings, was obliged greatly to distress and harass
the unfortunate inhabitants of the said provinces.
" That the said Warren Hastings did, some time in
the year 1784, remove the said Jagher Deo Seo from
the said office, under pretence of certain irregularities
and oppressions; which irregularities and oppressions
are solely imputable to him, the said Warren Hastings.
" That the consequences of all these violent changes
and arbitrary acts. were the total ruin and desolation
of the country, and the flight of the inhabitants: the
said Warren Hastings having found every place abandoned at his approach, even by the officers of the very
government which he established, and seeing nothing
but traces of devastation in every village, the provinces in effect without a government, the administration misconducted, the people oppressed, trade discouraged, and the revenue in danger of a rapid decline. " All which destruction, devastation, oppression,
and ruin are solely imputable to the abovementioned
and other arbitrary, illegal, unjust, and tyrannical
acts of him, the said Warren Hastings, who, by all
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - THIRD DAY. 303
and every one of the same, was and is guilty of high
crimes and misdemeanors. "
[Mr. Burke proceeded. ]
My Lords, you have heard the charge; and you are
now going to see the prisoner at your bar in a new
point of view. I will now endeavor to display him in
his character df a legislator in a foreign land, not
augmenting the territory, honor, and power of Great
Britain, and bringing the acquisition under the dominion of law and liberty, but desolating a flourishing country, that to all intents and purposes was our
own, -a country which we had conquered from freedom, from tranquillity, order, and prosperity, and submitted, through him, to arbitrary power, misrule, anarchy, and ruin. We now see the object of his corrupt vengeance utterly destroyed, his family driven from their home, his people butchered, his wife and
all the females of his family robbed and dishonored
in their persons, and the effects which husband and
parents had laid up in store for the subsistence of
their families, all the savings of provident economy,
distributed amongst a rapacious soldiery. His malice
is victorious. He has well avenged, in the destruction of this unfortunate family, the Rajah's intended
visit to General Clavering; he has well avenged the
suspected discovery of his bribe to Mr. Francis.
"Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all! "
Let us see, my Lords, what use he makes of this
power, - how he justifies the bounty of Fortune,
bestowing on him this strange and anomalous conquest. Anomalous I call it, my Lords, because it
was the result of no plan in the cabinet, no opera
? ? ? ? 304 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
tion in the-field. No act or direction proceeded from
him, the responsible chief, except the merciless orders,
and the grant to the soldiery. He lay skulking and
trembling in the fort of Chunar, while the British
soldiery entitled themselves to the plunder which he
held out to them. Nevertheless, my Lords, he conquers; the country is his own; he treats it as his
own. Let us, therefore, see how this successor of
Tamerlane, this emulator of Genghis Khan, governs
a country conquered by the talents and courage of
others, without assistance, guide, direction, or counsel given by himself.
My Lords, I will introduce his first act to your
Lordships' notice in the words of the charge.
" The said Warren Hastings did, some time in the
year- 1782, enter into a clandestine correspondence
with William Markham, Esquire, the then Resident
at Benares; which said Markham had been by him,
the said Warren Hastings, obtruded into the said office, contrary to the positive orders of the Court of Directors. "
This unjustifiable obtrusion, this illegal appoint
ment, shows you at the very outset that'he defies the
laws of his country, - most positively and pointedly
defies them. In attempting to give a reason for this
defiance, he has chosen to tell a branch of the legislature from which originated the act which wisely and prudently ordered him to pay implicit' obedience to
the Court of Directors, that he removed Mr. Fowke
from Benares, contrary to the orders of the Court,
on political grounds; because, says he, " I thought it
necessary the Resident there should be a man of my
own nomination and confidence. I avow the principle, and think no government can subsist without it.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - THIRD DAY. 305
The punishment of the Rajah made no part of my
design in Mr. Fowke's removal or Mr. Markham's
appointment, nor was his punishment an object of my
contemplation at the time I removed Mr. Fowke to
appoint Mr. Markham: an appointment of my own
choice, and a signal to notify the restoration of my
own authority; as I had before removed Mr. Fowke
and appointed Mr. Graham for the same purpose. "
Here, my Lords, he does not even pretend that he
had any view whatever, in this appointment of Mr.
Markham, but to defy the laws of his country. "I
must," says he, " have a man of my own nomination,
because it is a signal to notify the restoration of my
own authority, as I had before removed Mr. Fowke
for the same purpose. "
I must beg your Lordships to keep in mind that
the greater part of the observations with which I shall
trouble you have a reference to the principles upon
which this man acts; and I beseech you to remember
always that you have before you a question and an
issue of law; I beseech you to consider what it is that
you are disposing of, - that you are not merely disposing of this man and his cause, but that you are disposing of the laws of your country.
You, my Lords, have made, and we have made, an
act of Parliament in which the Council at Calcutta
is vested with a special power, distinctly limited and
defined. He says, " My authority is absolute. I defy the orders of the Court of Directors, because it is necessary for me to show that I can disregard them,
as a signal of my own authority. " He supposes his
authority gone while he obeys the laws; but, says he.
"the moment I got rid of the bonds and barriers of
the laws;" (as if there had been some act of violence
VOL. XI. 20
? ? ? ? 306 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
and usurpation that had deprived him of his rightful powers,) "I was restored to my own authority. " What is this authority to which he is restored? Not
an authority vested in him by the East India Company; not an authority sanctioned by the laws of
this kingdom. It is neither of these, but the authority of Warren Hastings; an inherent divine right, I suppose, which he has thought proper to claim as
belonging to himself; something independent of the
laws, something independent of the Court of Directors, something independent -of his brethren of the Council. It is " my own authority. "
And what is the signal by which you are to know
when this authority is restored? By his obedience
to the Court of Directors? - by his attention to the
laws of his country? -by his regard to the rights of
the people? No, my Lords, no: the notification of
the restoration of this authority is a formal disobedience of the orders of the Court of Directors. When you find the laws of the land trampled upon, and
their appointed authority despised, then you may be
sure that the authority of the prisoner is reestablished.
There is, my Lords, always a close connection between vices of every description. The man who is a tyrant would, under some other circumstances, be a
rebel; and he that is a rebel would become a tyrant.
They are things which originally proceed from the
same source. They owe their birth to the wild, unbridled lewdness of arbitrary power. They arise from a contempt of public order, and of the laws and institutions which curb mankind. They arise from a harsh, cruel, and ferocious disposition, impatient of
the rules of law, order, and morality: and accord
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. THIRD DAY. 307
ilgly, as their relation varies, the man is a tyrant,
if a superior, a rebel, if an inferior. But this man,
standing in a middle point between the two relations,
the superior and inferior, declares himself at once
both a rebel and a tyrant. We therefore naturally
expect, that, when he has thrown off the laws of his
country, he will throw off all other authority. Accordingly, in defiance of that authority to which he owes his'situation, he nominates Mr. Markham to the
Residency at Benares, and therefore every act of Mr.
Markham is his. He is responsible, - doubly responsible to what he would have been, if in the. ordinary course of office he had named. this agent. Every
governor is responsible for the misdemeanors committed under his legal authority for which he does not punish the delinquent; but the prisoner is doubly responsible in this case, because he assumed an illegal authority, which can be justified only, if at all,
by the good resulting from the assumption.
Having now chosen his principal instrument and
his confidential and sole counsellor, having the country entirely in his hand, and every obstacle that could impede his course swept out of the arena, what
does he do under these auspicious circumstances?
You would imagine, that, in the first place, he would
have sent down to the Council at Calcutta a general
view of his proceedings, and of their consequences,
together with a complete statement of the revenue;
that he would have recommended the fittest persons
for public trusts, with such other measures as he
might judge to be most essential to the interest and
honor of his employers. One would have imagined
he would have done this, in order that the Council
and the Court of Directors might have a clear view
? ? ? ? 308 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
of the whole existing system, before he attempted to
make a permanent arrangement for the administration of the country. But, on the contrary, the whole of his proceedings is clandestinely conducted; there
is not the slightest communication with the Council
upon the business, till he had determined and settled the whole. Thus the Council was placed in a complete dilemma, - either to confirm all his wicked
and arbitrary acts, (for such we have proved them to
be,) or to derange the whole administration of the
country again, and to make another revolution as
complete and dreadful as that which he had made.
The task which the Governor-General had imposed
upon himself was, I admit, a difficult one; but those
who pull down important ancient establishments,
who wantonly destroy modes of administration and
public institutions under which a country has prospered, are the most mischievous, and therefore the wickedest of men. It is not a reverse of fortune, it
is not the fall of an individual, that -we are here
talking of. We are, indeed, sorry for Cheyt Sing
and Durbege Sing, as we should be sorry for any
individual under similar circumstances.
It is wisely provided in the constitution of our
heart, that we should interest ourselves in the fate
of great personages. They are therefore made everywhere the objects of tragedy, which addresses itself directly to our passions and our feelings. And
why? Because men of great place, men of great
rank, men of great hereditary authority, cannot fall
without a horrible crash upon all about them. Such
towers cannot tumble without ruining their dependent cottages.
The prosperity of a country, that has been dis
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -THIRD DAY. 309
tressed by a revolution which has swept off its principal men, cannot be reestablished -without extreme difficulty. This man, therefore, who wantonly and
wickedly destroyed the existing government of Benares, was doubly bound to use all possible care and caution in supplying the loss of those institutions
which he had destroyed, and of the men whom he
had driven into exile. This, I say, he ought to have
done. Let us now see what he really did do.
He set out by disposing of all the property of the
country as if it was his own. He first confiscated
the whole estates of the Baboos, the great nobility
of the country, to the amount of six lacs of rupees.
He then distributed the lands and revenue of the
country according to his own pleasure; and as he
had seized the lands without our knowing why or
wherefore, so the portion which he took away from
some persons he gave to others, in the same arbitrary
manner, and without any assignable reason.
When we were inquiring what jaghires Mr. Hastings had thought proper' to grant, we found, to our astonishment, (though it is natural that his mind
should take this turn,) that he endowed several
charities with jaghires. He gave a jaghire to some
Brahmins to pray for the perpetual prosperity of the
Company, and others to procure the prayers of the
same class of men for himself. I do not blame his
Gentoo piety, when I find no Christian piety in the
man. : let him take refuge in any superstition he
pleases. The crime we charge is his having distributed the lands of others at his own pleasure.
Whether this proceeded from piety, from ostentation,
or from any other motive, it matters not. We contend that he ought not to have distributed such land
? ? ? ? 310 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
at all, -- that he had no right to do so; and consequently, the gift of a single acre of land, by his own
private will, was an act of robbery, either from the
public or some individual.
When he had thus disturbed the landed property
of Benares, and distributed it according to his own
will, he thought it would be proper to fix upon a
person to govern the country; and of this person he
himself made the choice. It does not appear that
the people could have lost, even by the revolt of
Cheyt Sing, the right which was inherent in them to
be governed by the lawful successor of his family.
We find, however, that this man, by his own authority, by the arbitrary exercise of his own will and fancy, did think proper to nominate a person to succeed the Rajah who had no legal claims to the succession.
He made' choice of a boy about nineteen years old;
and he says he made that choice upon the principle
of this boy's being descended from Bulwant Sing
by the female line. But he does not pretend to say
that he was the proper and natural heir to Cheyt
Sing; and we will show you the direct contrary. Indeed, he confesses the contrary himself; for he argues, in his defence, that, when a new system was to be formed with the successor of Cheyt Sing who was
not his heir, such successor had no claim of right.
But perhaps the want of right was supplied by the
capacity and fitness of the person who was chosen.
I do not say that this does or can for one moment
supersede the positive right of another person; but
it would palliate the injustice in some degree. Was
there in this case any palliative matter? Who was
the person chosen by Mr. Hastings to succeed Cheyt
Sing? My Lords, the person chosen was a minor:
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - THIRD DAY. 311
for we find the prisoner at your bar immediately proceeded to appoint him a guardian. This guardian
he also chose by his own will and pleasure, as he
himself declares, without referring to any particular
claim or usage,- without calling the Pundits to instruct him, upon whom, by the \Gentoo laws, the
guardianship devolved.
I admit, that, in selecting a guardian, he did not,
in one respect, act improperly; for he chose. the
boy's father, and he could not have chosen a better
guardian for his person. But for the administration
of his government qualities were required which this
man did not possess. He should have chosen a man
of vigor, capacity, and diligence, a man fit to meet
the great difficulties of the situation in which he was
to be placed.
Mr. Hastings, my Lords, plainly tells you that he
did not think the man's talents to be extraordinary,
and he soon afterwards says that lie had a great
many incapacities. He tells you that he has a doubt
whether he was capable of realizing those hopes of
revenue which he ( Mr. Hastings) had formed. Nor
can this be matter of wonder, when we consider that
he had ruined and destroyed the ancient system, the
whole scheme and tenor of public offices, and had
substituted nothing for them but his own arbitrary
will. He had formed a plan of an entire new system, in which the practical details had no reference
to the experience and wisdom of past ages. He did
not take the government as he found it; he did not
take the system of offices as it was arranged to his
hand; but lie dared to make the wicked and flagitious experiment which I have stated, -- an experiment upon the happiness of a numerous people,
? ? ? ? 312 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
whose property he had usurped and distributed ill
the manner which has been laid before your Lord
ships. The attempt failed, and he is responsible for
the consequences.
How dared he to make these experiments? In
what manner can he be justified for playing fast and
loose with the dearest interests, and perhaps with
the very existence, of a nation? Attend to the
manner in which he justifies himself, and you will
find the whole secret let out. "The easy accumulation of too much wealth," he says, " had been
Cheyt Sing's ruin; it had buoyed him up with extravagant and ill-founded notions of independence,
which I very much wished to discourage in the future Rajah. Some part, therefore, of the superabundant produce in the country I turned into the coffers of the sovereign by an augmentation of the
tribute. " -- Who authorized him to make any augmentation of the tribute? But above all, who au-n
thorized him to augment it upon this principle? --
" I must take care the tributary prince does not grow'too rich; if he gets rich, he will get proud. " -This
prisoner has got a scale like that in the almanac, -
" War begets poverty, poverty peace,"' and so on.
The first rule that he lays down is, that he will keep
the new Rajah in a state of poverty; because, if he
grows rich, he will become proud, and behave as
Cheyt Sing did. You see the ground, foundation,
and spirit of the whole proceeding. Cheyt Sing was
to be robbed. Why? Because he is too rich. His
successor is to be reduced to a miserable condition.
Why? Lest he should grow rich and become troublesome. The whole of his system is to prevent men
from growing rich, lest, if they should grow rich, they
? ? ? ?
you gave him more than he before possessed; and
you had no reason to repent your generosity. Your
magnanimity and justice proved to be the best policy, and was the subject of admiration from one end of India to the other. But Mr. Hastings had other
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. SECOND DAY. 291
maxims and other principles. You are weak, he
says, and therefore you ought never to forgive.
Indeed, Mr. Hastings never does forgive. The Rajah was weak, and he persecuted him; Mr. Hastings
was weak, and he lost his prey. He went up the
country with the rapacity, but not with the talons
and beak, of a vulture. He went to look for plunder; but he was himself plundered, the country was
ravaged, and the prey escaped.
After the escape of Cheyt Sing, there still existed
in one corner of the country some further food for
Mr. Hastings's rapacity. There was a place called
Bidjegur, one of those forts which Mr. Hastings declared could not be safely left in the possession of the
Rajah; measures were therefore taken to obtain possession of this place, soon after the flight of its unfortunate proprietor. And what did he find in it? A great and powerful garrison? No, my Lords: he
found in it the wives and family of the Rajah; he
found it inhabited by two hundred women, and defended by a garrison of eunuchs and a few feeble
militia-men. This fortress was supposed by him
to contain some money, which he hoped to lay hold
of when all other means of rapacity had escaped him.
He first sends (and you have it on your minutes) a
most cruel, most atrocious, and most insulting message to these unfortunate women; one of whom, a
principal personage of the family, we find him in the
subsequent negotiation scandalizing in one minute,
and declaring to be a woman of respectable character
in the next,- treating her by turns as a prostitute
and as an amiable woman, as best suited the purposes of the hour. This woman, with two hundred
of her sex, he found in Bidjegur. Whatever money
? ? ? ? 292 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
they had was their own property; and as such Cheyt
Sing, who had visited the place before his flight, had
left it for their support, thinking that it would be
secure to them as their property, because they were
persons wholly void of guilt, as they must needs have
been. This money the Rajah might have carried off
with him; but he left it them, and we must presume
that it was their property; and no attempt was ever
made by Mr. Hastings to prove otherwise. They had
no other property that could be found. It was the
only means of subsistence for themselves, their children, their domestics, and dependants, and for the whole female part of that once illustrious and next
to royal family.
But to proceed. A detachment of soldiers was sent
to seize the forts [fort? ]. Soldiers are habitually
men of some generosity; even when they are acting
in a bad cause, they do not wholly lose the military
spirit. But Mr. Hastings, fearing that they might
not be animated with the same lust of plunder as
himself, stimulated them to demand the plunder of
the place, and expresses his hopes that no composition would be made with these women, and that not one shilling of the booty would be allowed them. He
does not trust to their acting as soldiers who have
their fortunes to make; but he stimulates and urges
them not to give way to the generous passions and
feelings of men.
He thus writes from Benares, the 22d of October,
1781, ten o'clock in the morning. "I am this instant favored with yours of yesterday; mine to you
of the same date has before this time acquainted you
with my resolutions and sentiments respecting the
Ranny. I think every demand she has made to you,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 293
except that of safety and respect for her person, is
unreasonable. If the reports brought to me are
true, your rejecting her offers, or any negotiation
with her, would soon obtain you possession of the fort
upon your own terms. I apprehend that she will
contrive to defraud the captors of a considerable
part of the booty by being suffered to retire without
examination; but this is your consideration, and not
mine. I should be sorry that your officers and soldiers lost any part of the reward to which they are so well entitled; but I cannot make any objection, as
you must be the best judge of the expediency of the
promised indulgence to the Ranny. What you have
engaged for I will certainly ratify; but as to permitting the Ranny to hold the purgunnah of IIurluk,
or any other in the zemindary, without being subject
to the authority of the zemindar, or any lands whatever, or indeed making any conditions with her for a provision, I will never consent to it. "
My Lords, you have seen the principles upon
which this man justifies his conduct. Here his real
nature, character, and disposition break out. These
women had been guilty of no rebellion; he never
charged them with any crime but that of having
wealth; and yet you see with what ferocity he pursues everything that belonged to the destined object of his cruel, inhuman, and more than tragic revenge;
"If," says he, " you have made an agreement with
them, and will insist upon it, I will keep it; but if
you have not, I beseech you not to make any. Don't
give them anything; suffer no stipulations whatever
of a provision for them. The capitulation I will ratify, provided it contains no article of future provision for them. " This he positively forbade; so that his
? ? ? ? 294 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
bloodthirsty vengeance would have sent out these
two hundred innocent women to starve naked in the
world.
But he not only declares that the money found
in the fort is the soldiers', he adds, that he should
be sorry, if they lost a shilling of it. So that you
have here a man not only declaring that the money
was theirs, directly contrary to the Company's positive orders upon other similar occasions, and after he had himself declared that prize-money was poison to soldiers, but directly-inciting them to insist upon their right to it.
A month had been allowed by proclamation for
the submission of all persons who had been in rebellion, which submission was to entitle them to indemnity. But, my Lords, he endeavored to break
the public faith with these women, by inciting the
soldiers to make no capitulation with them, and thus
depriving them of the benefit of the proclamation, by
preventing their voluntary surrender.
[Mr. Burke here read the proclamation. ]
From the date of this proclamation it appears that
the surrender of the fort was clearly within the time
given,to those who had been guilty of the most
atrocious acts of-rebellion to repair to their homes
and enjoy an indemnity. These women had never
quitted their homes, nor had they been charged with
rebellion, and yet they were cruelly excluded from
the general indemnity; and after the army had taken
unconditional possession of the fort, they were turned
out of it, and ordered to the quarters of the commanding officer, Major Popham. This officer had received from Mr. Hastings a power to rob them, a
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SECOND DAY. 295
power to plunder them, a power to distribute the
plunder, but no power to give them any allowance,
nor any authority even to receive them.
In this disgraceful affair the soldiers showed a
generosity which Mr. Hastings neither showed nor
would have suffered, if he could have prevented it.
They agreed amongst themselves to give to these
women three lacs of rupees, and some trifle more;
and the rest was divided as a prey among the army.
The sum found in the fort was about 238,0001. , not
the smallest part of which was in any way proved
to be Cheyt Sing's property, or the property of any
person but the unfortunate women who were found
in the possession of it.
The plunder of the fort being thus given to the
soldiers, what does Mr. Hastings next do? He is
astonished and stupefied to find so much unprofitable violence, so much tyranny, and so little pecuniary advantage, - so much bloodshed, without any profit to the Company. He therefore breaks his
faith with the soldiers; declares, that, having no
right to the money, they must refund it to the Company-; and on their refusal, he instituted a suit
against them. With respect to the three lacs of
rupees, or 30,0001. , which was to be given to these
women, have we a scrap of paper to prove its payment? is there a single receipt or voucher to verify their having received one sixpence of it? I am rati}. :o inclined to think that they did receive it, or
some part of it; but I don't know a greater crime
in public officers than to have no kind of vouchers
for the'disposal of any large sums of money which
pass through their hands: but this, my Lords, is
the great vice of Mr. Hastings's government.
? ? ? ? 296 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
I have briefly taken notice of the claim which Mr.
Hastings thought proper to make, on the part of
the Company, to the treasure found in the fort of
Bidjegur, after he had instigated the army to claim
it as the right of the captors. Your Lordships will
not be at a loss to account for this strange and barefaced inconsistency. This excellent Governor foresaw that he would have a bad account of this business to give to the contractors in Leadenhall Street, who consider laws, religion, morality, and the principles of state policy of empires as mere questions
of profit and loss. Finding that he had dismal accounts to give of great sums expended without any
returns, he had recourse to the only expedient that
was left him. He had broken his faith with the
ladies in the fort, by not suffering his officers to
grant them that indemnity which his proclamation
offered. Then, finding that the soldiers had taken
him at his word, and appropriated the treasure to
their own use, he next broke his faith with them.
A constant breach of faith is a maxim with him.
He claims the treasure for the Company, and institutes a suit before Sir Elijah Impey, who gives the
money to the Company, and not to the soldiers.
The soldiers appeal; and since the beginning of this
trial, I believe even very lately, it has been decided
by the Council that the letter of Mr. Hastings was
not, as Sir Elijah Impey pretended, a mere private
letter, because it had " Dear Sir," in it, but a public order, authorizing the soldiers to divide the money
among themselves.
Thus 200,0001. was distributed among the soldiers; 400,0001. was taken away by Cheyt Sing, to
be pillaged by all the Company's enemies through
? ? ? ? . SPEECH IN REPLY. - SECOND DAY. 297
whose countries he passed; and so ended one of
the great sources from which this great financier
intended to supply the exigencies of the Company,
and recruit their exhausted finances.
By this proceeding, my Lords, the national honor
is disgraced, all the rules of justice are violated, and
every sanction, human and divine, trampled upon.
We have, on one side, a country ruined, a noble
family destroyed, a rebellion raised by outrage and
quelled by bloodshed, the national faith pledged to
indemnity, and that indemnity faithlessly withheld
from helpless, defenceless women; while the other
side of the picture is equally unfavorable. The East
India Company have had their treasure wasted, their
credit weakened, their honor polluted, and their
troops employed against their own subjects, when
their services were required against foreign enemies.
My Lords, it only remains for me, at this time, to
make a few observations upon some proceedings of
the prisoner respecting the revenue of Benares. I
must first state to your Lordships that in the year
1780 he made a demand upon that country, which,
by his own account, if it had been complied with,
would only have left 23,0001. a year for the maintenance of the Rajah and his family. I wish to have this account read, for the purpose of verifying
the observations which I shall have to make to your
Lordships.
[Here the account was read. ]
I must now observe to your Lordships, that Mr.
Markham and Mr. Hastings have stated the Rajah's
net revenue at forty-six lacs: but the accounts before you state it at forty lacs only. Mr. Hastings
? ? ? ? 29:8 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
had himself declared that he did not think the country could safely yield more, and that any attempt
to extract more would be ruinous.
Your Lordships will observe that the first of these
estimates is unaccompanied with any document whatever, and that it is contradicted by the papers of receipt and the articles of account, from all of which it appears that the country never yielded more than
forty lacs during the time that Mr. Hastings had
it in his possession; and you may be sure he
squeezed as much out of it- as he could. He had
his own Residents, -- first Mr. Markham, then Mr.
Fowke, then Mr. Grant; they all went up with a
design to make the most of it. They endeavored
to do so; but they never could screw it up to more
than forty lacs by all the violent means which they
employed. The ordinary subsidy, as paid at Calcutta by the Rajah, amounted to twenty-two lacs;
and it is therefore clearly proved by this paper,
that Mr. Hastings's demand of fifty lacs (500,0001. ),
joined to the subsidies, was more than the whole
revenue which the country could yield. What
hoarded treasure the Rajah possessed, and which
Mr. Hastings says he carried off with him, does
not appear. That it was any considerable sum is
more than Mr. Hastings knows, more than can be
proved, more than is probable. He had not, in
his precipitate flight, any means, I think, of carrying away a great sum. It further appears from
these accounts, that, after the payment of the subsidy, there would only have been left 18,0001. a year
for the support of the Rajah's family and establishments.
Your Lordships have now a standard, not a vision
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 299
ary one, but a standard verified by accurate calculation and authentic accounts. You may now fairly estimate the avarice and rapacity of this man, who describes countries to be enormously rich in order that he may be justified in pillaging them. But however
insatiable the prisoner's avarice may be, he has other
objects in view, other* passions rankling in his heart,
besides the lust of money. He was not ignorant, and
we have proved it by his own confession, that his pretended expectation of benefit to the Company could
not be realized; but he well knew that by enforcing
his demands he should utterly and effectually ruin a
man whom he mortally hated and abhorred, - a man
who could not, by any sacrifices offered to the avarice, avert the cruelty of his implacable enemy. As
long as truth remains, as long as figures stand,
as long as two and'two are four, as long as there
is mathematical and arithmetical demonstration, so
long shall his cruelty, rage, ravage, and oppression
remain evident to an astonished posterity.
I shall undertake, my Lords, when this court meets
again, to develop the consequences of this wicked proceeding. I shall then show you that that part of
the Rajah's family which he left behind him, and
which Mr. Hastings pretended to take under his protection, was also ruined, undone, and destroyed; and
that the once beautiful country of Benares, which he
has had the impudence to represent as being still
in a prosperous condition, was left by him in such
a state as would move pity in any tyrant in the
world except the one who now stands before you.
? ? ? ? SPE E C H
GENERAL REPLY.
THIRD DAY: TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1794.
MY LORDS, -- We are called, with an awful
voice, to come forth and make good our charge
against the prisoner at your bar; but. as a long time
has elapsed since your Lordships heard that charge, I
shall take the liberty of requesting my worthy fellow
Manager near me to read that part to your Lordships
which I am just now going to observe upon, that you
may be the better able to apply my observations to the
letter of the charge.
[Mr. Wyndham reads. ]
" That the said Warren Hastings, having, as aforesaid, expelled the said Cheyt Sing from his dominions, did, of his own usurped authority, and without any
communication with or any approbation given by the
other members of the Council, nominate and appoint
Rajah Mehip Narrain to the government of the provinces of Benares, and did appoint his father, Durbege Sing, as administrator of his authority, and did give
to the British Resident, William Markham, a controlling authority over both; and'did farther abrogate and set aside all treaties and agreements which subsisted
between the state of Benares and the British nation;
and did arbitrarily and tyrannically, of his mere au
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- THIRD DAY. 301
thority, raise the tribute to the sum of four hundred thousand pounds sterling, or thereabouts; did
further wantonly and illegally impose certain oppressive duties upon goods and merchandise, to the great injury of trade and ruin of the provinces; and did farther dispose of, as his own, the property within the said provinces, by granting the same, or parts thereof,
in pensions to such persons as he thought fit.
"That the said Warren Hastings did, some time in
the year 1782, enter into a clandestine correspondence
with William Markham, Esquire, the then Resident
at Benares, which said Markham had been by him,
the said Warren Hastings, obtruded into the said office, contrary to the positive orders of the Court of Directors; and, in consequence of the representations
of the said Markham, did, under pretence that the
new excessive rent or tribute was in arrear, and that
the affairs of the provinces were likely to fall into
confusion, authorize and impower him, by his own
private authority, to remove the said Durbege Sing
from his office and deprive him of his estate.
"That the said Durbege Sing was, by the private
orders and authorities given by the said Warren
Hastings, and in consequence of the representations
aforesaid, violently thrown into prison, and cruelly
confined therein, under pretence of the non-payment
of the arrears of the tribute aforesaid.
" That the widow of Bulwant Sing, and the Rajah
Mehip Narrain, did pointed. y accuse the said Markham
of being the sole cause of any delay in the payment
of the tribute aforesaid, and did offer to prove the
innocence of the said Durbege Sing, and also to prove
that the faults ascribed to him were solely the faults
of the said Markham; yet the said Warren Hastings
? ? ? ? ~02 IMPEACHMENT OPF WARREN HASTINGS.
did pay no.
regard whatever to the said representations,
nor make any inquiry into the truth of the same, but
did accuse the said widow of Bulwant Sing and the
Rajah aforesaid of gross presumption for the same;
and, listening to the representations of the person accused, (viz. , the Resident Markham,) did continue
to confine the said Durbege Sing in prison, and did
invest the Resident Markham with authority to bestow
his office upon whomsoever he pleased. ' That the said Markham did bestow the said office
of administrator of the provinces of Benares upon a
certain person named Jagher Deo Seo, who, in order
to gratify the arbitrary demands of the said Warren
Hastings, was obliged greatly to distress and harass
the unfortunate inhabitants of the said provinces.
" That the said Warren Hastings did, some time in
the year 1784, remove the said Jagher Deo Seo from
the said office, under pretence of certain irregularities
and oppressions; which irregularities and oppressions
are solely imputable to him, the said Warren Hastings.
" That the consequences of all these violent changes
and arbitrary acts. were the total ruin and desolation
of the country, and the flight of the inhabitants: the
said Warren Hastings having found every place abandoned at his approach, even by the officers of the very
government which he established, and seeing nothing
but traces of devastation in every village, the provinces in effect without a government, the administration misconducted, the people oppressed, trade discouraged, and the revenue in danger of a rapid decline. " All which destruction, devastation, oppression,
and ruin are solely imputable to the abovementioned
and other arbitrary, illegal, unjust, and tyrannical
acts of him, the said Warren Hastings, who, by all
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - THIRD DAY. 303
and every one of the same, was and is guilty of high
crimes and misdemeanors. "
[Mr. Burke proceeded. ]
My Lords, you have heard the charge; and you are
now going to see the prisoner at your bar in a new
point of view. I will now endeavor to display him in
his character df a legislator in a foreign land, not
augmenting the territory, honor, and power of Great
Britain, and bringing the acquisition under the dominion of law and liberty, but desolating a flourishing country, that to all intents and purposes was our
own, -a country which we had conquered from freedom, from tranquillity, order, and prosperity, and submitted, through him, to arbitrary power, misrule, anarchy, and ruin. We now see the object of his corrupt vengeance utterly destroyed, his family driven from their home, his people butchered, his wife and
all the females of his family robbed and dishonored
in their persons, and the effects which husband and
parents had laid up in store for the subsistence of
their families, all the savings of provident economy,
distributed amongst a rapacious soldiery. His malice
is victorious. He has well avenged, in the destruction of this unfortunate family, the Rajah's intended
visit to General Clavering; he has well avenged the
suspected discovery of his bribe to Mr. Francis.
"Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all! "
Let us see, my Lords, what use he makes of this
power, - how he justifies the bounty of Fortune,
bestowing on him this strange and anomalous conquest. Anomalous I call it, my Lords, because it
was the result of no plan in the cabinet, no opera
? ? ? ? 304 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
tion in the-field. No act or direction proceeded from
him, the responsible chief, except the merciless orders,
and the grant to the soldiery. He lay skulking and
trembling in the fort of Chunar, while the British
soldiery entitled themselves to the plunder which he
held out to them. Nevertheless, my Lords, he conquers; the country is his own; he treats it as his
own. Let us, therefore, see how this successor of
Tamerlane, this emulator of Genghis Khan, governs
a country conquered by the talents and courage of
others, without assistance, guide, direction, or counsel given by himself.
My Lords, I will introduce his first act to your
Lordships' notice in the words of the charge.
" The said Warren Hastings did, some time in the
year- 1782, enter into a clandestine correspondence
with William Markham, Esquire, the then Resident
at Benares; which said Markham had been by him,
the said Warren Hastings, obtruded into the said office, contrary to the positive orders of the Court of Directors. "
This unjustifiable obtrusion, this illegal appoint
ment, shows you at the very outset that'he defies the
laws of his country, - most positively and pointedly
defies them. In attempting to give a reason for this
defiance, he has chosen to tell a branch of the legislature from which originated the act which wisely and prudently ordered him to pay implicit' obedience to
the Court of Directors, that he removed Mr. Fowke
from Benares, contrary to the orders of the Court,
on political grounds; because, says he, " I thought it
necessary the Resident there should be a man of my
own nomination and confidence. I avow the principle, and think no government can subsist without it.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - THIRD DAY. 305
The punishment of the Rajah made no part of my
design in Mr. Fowke's removal or Mr. Markham's
appointment, nor was his punishment an object of my
contemplation at the time I removed Mr. Fowke to
appoint Mr. Markham: an appointment of my own
choice, and a signal to notify the restoration of my
own authority; as I had before removed Mr. Fowke
and appointed Mr. Graham for the same purpose. "
Here, my Lords, he does not even pretend that he
had any view whatever, in this appointment of Mr.
Markham, but to defy the laws of his country. "I
must," says he, " have a man of my own nomination,
because it is a signal to notify the restoration of my
own authority, as I had before removed Mr. Fowke
for the same purpose. "
I must beg your Lordships to keep in mind that
the greater part of the observations with which I shall
trouble you have a reference to the principles upon
which this man acts; and I beseech you to remember
always that you have before you a question and an
issue of law; I beseech you to consider what it is that
you are disposing of, - that you are not merely disposing of this man and his cause, but that you are disposing of the laws of your country.
You, my Lords, have made, and we have made, an
act of Parliament in which the Council at Calcutta
is vested with a special power, distinctly limited and
defined. He says, " My authority is absolute. I defy the orders of the Court of Directors, because it is necessary for me to show that I can disregard them,
as a signal of my own authority. " He supposes his
authority gone while he obeys the laws; but, says he.
"the moment I got rid of the bonds and barriers of
the laws;" (as if there had been some act of violence
VOL. XI. 20
? ? ? ? 306 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
and usurpation that had deprived him of his rightful powers,) "I was restored to my own authority. " What is this authority to which he is restored? Not
an authority vested in him by the East India Company; not an authority sanctioned by the laws of
this kingdom. It is neither of these, but the authority of Warren Hastings; an inherent divine right, I suppose, which he has thought proper to claim as
belonging to himself; something independent of the
laws, something independent of the Court of Directors, something independent -of his brethren of the Council. It is " my own authority. "
And what is the signal by which you are to know
when this authority is restored? By his obedience
to the Court of Directors? - by his attention to the
laws of his country? -by his regard to the rights of
the people? No, my Lords, no: the notification of
the restoration of this authority is a formal disobedience of the orders of the Court of Directors. When you find the laws of the land trampled upon, and
their appointed authority despised, then you may be
sure that the authority of the prisoner is reestablished.
There is, my Lords, always a close connection between vices of every description. The man who is a tyrant would, under some other circumstances, be a
rebel; and he that is a rebel would become a tyrant.
They are things which originally proceed from the
same source. They owe their birth to the wild, unbridled lewdness of arbitrary power. They arise from a contempt of public order, and of the laws and institutions which curb mankind. They arise from a harsh, cruel, and ferocious disposition, impatient of
the rules of law, order, and morality: and accord
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. THIRD DAY. 307
ilgly, as their relation varies, the man is a tyrant,
if a superior, a rebel, if an inferior. But this man,
standing in a middle point between the two relations,
the superior and inferior, declares himself at once
both a rebel and a tyrant. We therefore naturally
expect, that, when he has thrown off the laws of his
country, he will throw off all other authority. Accordingly, in defiance of that authority to which he owes his'situation, he nominates Mr. Markham to the
Residency at Benares, and therefore every act of Mr.
Markham is his. He is responsible, - doubly responsible to what he would have been, if in the. ordinary course of office he had named. this agent. Every
governor is responsible for the misdemeanors committed under his legal authority for which he does not punish the delinquent; but the prisoner is doubly responsible in this case, because he assumed an illegal authority, which can be justified only, if at all,
by the good resulting from the assumption.
Having now chosen his principal instrument and
his confidential and sole counsellor, having the country entirely in his hand, and every obstacle that could impede his course swept out of the arena, what
does he do under these auspicious circumstances?
You would imagine, that, in the first place, he would
have sent down to the Council at Calcutta a general
view of his proceedings, and of their consequences,
together with a complete statement of the revenue;
that he would have recommended the fittest persons
for public trusts, with such other measures as he
might judge to be most essential to the interest and
honor of his employers. One would have imagined
he would have done this, in order that the Council
and the Court of Directors might have a clear view
? ? ? ? 308 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
of the whole existing system, before he attempted to
make a permanent arrangement for the administration of the country. But, on the contrary, the whole of his proceedings is clandestinely conducted; there
is not the slightest communication with the Council
upon the business, till he had determined and settled the whole. Thus the Council was placed in a complete dilemma, - either to confirm all his wicked
and arbitrary acts, (for such we have proved them to
be,) or to derange the whole administration of the
country again, and to make another revolution as
complete and dreadful as that which he had made.
The task which the Governor-General had imposed
upon himself was, I admit, a difficult one; but those
who pull down important ancient establishments,
who wantonly destroy modes of administration and
public institutions under which a country has prospered, are the most mischievous, and therefore the wickedest of men. It is not a reverse of fortune, it
is not the fall of an individual, that -we are here
talking of. We are, indeed, sorry for Cheyt Sing
and Durbege Sing, as we should be sorry for any
individual under similar circumstances.
It is wisely provided in the constitution of our
heart, that we should interest ourselves in the fate
of great personages. They are therefore made everywhere the objects of tragedy, which addresses itself directly to our passions and our feelings. And
why? Because men of great place, men of great
rank, men of great hereditary authority, cannot fall
without a horrible crash upon all about them. Such
towers cannot tumble without ruining their dependent cottages.
The prosperity of a country, that has been dis
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -THIRD DAY. 309
tressed by a revolution which has swept off its principal men, cannot be reestablished -without extreme difficulty. This man, therefore, who wantonly and
wickedly destroyed the existing government of Benares, was doubly bound to use all possible care and caution in supplying the loss of those institutions
which he had destroyed, and of the men whom he
had driven into exile. This, I say, he ought to have
done. Let us now see what he really did do.
He set out by disposing of all the property of the
country as if it was his own. He first confiscated
the whole estates of the Baboos, the great nobility
of the country, to the amount of six lacs of rupees.
He then distributed the lands and revenue of the
country according to his own pleasure; and as he
had seized the lands without our knowing why or
wherefore, so the portion which he took away from
some persons he gave to others, in the same arbitrary
manner, and without any assignable reason.
When we were inquiring what jaghires Mr. Hastings had thought proper' to grant, we found, to our astonishment, (though it is natural that his mind
should take this turn,) that he endowed several
charities with jaghires. He gave a jaghire to some
Brahmins to pray for the perpetual prosperity of the
Company, and others to procure the prayers of the
same class of men for himself. I do not blame his
Gentoo piety, when I find no Christian piety in the
man. : let him take refuge in any superstition he
pleases. The crime we charge is his having distributed the lands of others at his own pleasure.
Whether this proceeded from piety, from ostentation,
or from any other motive, it matters not. We contend that he ought not to have distributed such land
? ? ? ? 310 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
at all, -- that he had no right to do so; and consequently, the gift of a single acre of land, by his own
private will, was an act of robbery, either from the
public or some individual.
When he had thus disturbed the landed property
of Benares, and distributed it according to his own
will, he thought it would be proper to fix upon a
person to govern the country; and of this person he
himself made the choice. It does not appear that
the people could have lost, even by the revolt of
Cheyt Sing, the right which was inherent in them to
be governed by the lawful successor of his family.
We find, however, that this man, by his own authority, by the arbitrary exercise of his own will and fancy, did think proper to nominate a person to succeed the Rajah who had no legal claims to the succession.
He made' choice of a boy about nineteen years old;
and he says he made that choice upon the principle
of this boy's being descended from Bulwant Sing
by the female line. But he does not pretend to say
that he was the proper and natural heir to Cheyt
Sing; and we will show you the direct contrary. Indeed, he confesses the contrary himself; for he argues, in his defence, that, when a new system was to be formed with the successor of Cheyt Sing who was
not his heir, such successor had no claim of right.
But perhaps the want of right was supplied by the
capacity and fitness of the person who was chosen.
I do not say that this does or can for one moment
supersede the positive right of another person; but
it would palliate the injustice in some degree. Was
there in this case any palliative matter? Who was
the person chosen by Mr. Hastings to succeed Cheyt
Sing? My Lords, the person chosen was a minor:
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - THIRD DAY. 311
for we find the prisoner at your bar immediately proceeded to appoint him a guardian. This guardian
he also chose by his own will and pleasure, as he
himself declares, without referring to any particular
claim or usage,- without calling the Pundits to instruct him, upon whom, by the \Gentoo laws, the
guardianship devolved.
I admit, that, in selecting a guardian, he did not,
in one respect, act improperly; for he chose. the
boy's father, and he could not have chosen a better
guardian for his person. But for the administration
of his government qualities were required which this
man did not possess. He should have chosen a man
of vigor, capacity, and diligence, a man fit to meet
the great difficulties of the situation in which he was
to be placed.
Mr. Hastings, my Lords, plainly tells you that he
did not think the man's talents to be extraordinary,
and he soon afterwards says that lie had a great
many incapacities. He tells you that he has a doubt
whether he was capable of realizing those hopes of
revenue which he ( Mr. Hastings) had formed. Nor
can this be matter of wonder, when we consider that
he had ruined and destroyed the ancient system, the
whole scheme and tenor of public offices, and had
substituted nothing for them but his own arbitrary
will. He had formed a plan of an entire new system, in which the practical details had no reference
to the experience and wisdom of past ages. He did
not take the government as he found it; he did not
take the system of offices as it was arranged to his
hand; but lie dared to make the wicked and flagitious experiment which I have stated, -- an experiment upon the happiness of a numerous people,
? ? ? ? 312 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
whose property he had usurped and distributed ill
the manner which has been laid before your Lord
ships. The attempt failed, and he is responsible for
the consequences.
How dared he to make these experiments? In
what manner can he be justified for playing fast and
loose with the dearest interests, and perhaps with
the very existence, of a nation? Attend to the
manner in which he justifies himself, and you will
find the whole secret let out. "The easy accumulation of too much wealth," he says, " had been
Cheyt Sing's ruin; it had buoyed him up with extravagant and ill-founded notions of independence,
which I very much wished to discourage in the future Rajah. Some part, therefore, of the superabundant produce in the country I turned into the coffers of the sovereign by an augmentation of the
tribute. " -- Who authorized him to make any augmentation of the tribute? But above all, who au-n
thorized him to augment it upon this principle? --
" I must take care the tributary prince does not grow'too rich; if he gets rich, he will get proud. " -This
prisoner has got a scale like that in the almanac, -
" War begets poverty, poverty peace,"' and so on.
The first rule that he lays down is, that he will keep
the new Rajah in a state of poverty; because, if he
grows rich, he will become proud, and behave as
Cheyt Sing did. You see the ground, foundation,
and spirit of the whole proceeding. Cheyt Sing was
to be robbed. Why? Because he is too rich. His
successor is to be reduced to a miserable condition.
Why? Lest he should grow rich and become troublesome. The whole of his system is to prevent men
from growing rich, lest, if they should grow rich, they
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