Some days after this conversation
was said to have happened, I was informed by the
same person that the Rajah had received a message
from one of the Begums at Fyzabad, (I think it was
from Sujah ul Dowlah's widow,).
was said to have happened, I was informed by the
same person that the Rajah had received a message
from one of the Begums at Fyzabad, (I think it was
from Sujah ul Dowlah's widow,).
Edmund Burke
Is there an article in that treaty that he
might not as well have made at Calcutta? Is there
an article that he broke (for he broke them all) that
he could not have broken at Calcutta? So that,
whether pledging or breaking the faith of the Company, he might have done both or either without
ever stirring from the Presidency.
I can conceive a necessity so urgent as to supersede all laws; but I have no conception of a necessity
that can require two governors-general, each forming separately a supreme council. Nay, to bring the
point home to him,-if. he had a mind to make
Cheyt Sing to pay a fine, as he called it, he could
have made him do that at Calcutta as well as at
Benares. He had before contrived to make him pay
all the extra demands that were iinposed upon him;
and he well knew that he could send Colonel Camac,
or somebody else, to Benares, with a body of troops
to enforce the payment. Why, then, did he go to
try experiments there in his own person? For this
plain reason: that he might be enabled to put such
sums in his own pocket as he thought fit. It was
not and could not be for any other purpose; and I
defy the wit of man to find out any other.
He says, my Lords, that Cheyt Sing might have
resisted, and that, if he had not been there, the Rajah might have fled with his money, or raised a rebellion for the purpose of avoiding payment. Why, then, we ask, did he not send an army? We ask,
whether Mr. Markham, with an army under the
command of Colonel Popham, or Mr. Fowke, or any
other Resident, was not much more likely to exact
? ? ? ? 276 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
a great sum of money than' Mr. Hastings without
an army? My Lords, the answer must be in the affirmative; it is therefore evident that no necessity
could exist for his presence, and that his presence
and conduct occasioned his being defeated in this
matter.
We find this man, armed with an illegal commission, undeirtaking an enterprise which he has since
said was perilous, which proved to be perilous, and
in which, as he has told us himself, the existence of
the British empire in India was involved. The talisman, (your Lordships will remember his use of the
word,) that charm which kept all India in order,
which kept mighty; and warlike nations under the
government of a few Englishmen, would, I verily believe, have been broken forever, if he, or any other
Governor-General, good or bad, had been killed. Infinite mischiefs would have followed such an event.
The situation in which he placed himself, by his own
misconduct, was pregnant with danger; and he put
himself in the way of that danger without having
any armed force worth mentioning, although -he
has acknowledged that Cheyt Sing had then an immense force. In fact, the demand of two thousand
cavalry proves that he considered the Rajah's army
to be formidable; yet, notwithstanding this, with four
companies of sepoys, poorly armed and ill provisioned, he went to invade that fine country, and to
force from its sovereign a sum of money, the payment of which he had reason to think would be resisted. He thus rashly hazarded his own being and the being of all his people.
"But," says he, " I did not imagine the Rajah intended to go into rebellion, and therefore went un
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. SECOND DAY. 277
armed. "' Why, then, was his presence necessary?
Why did he not send an order' from Calcutta for the
paymhent of the money? But what did he do, when
he got there? "I was alarmed," says he; "for the
Rajah surrounded my budgero'with two thousand
men: that indicated a hostile disposition. " Well, if
he did so, what precaution did: Mr. Hastings take for
his own safety? Why, none, my Lords, none. He
must therefore have been either a madman, a fool,
or a determined declarer of-falsehood. Either he
thought there was no danger, and thei-efore no occasion for providing against it, or he was the worst of governors, the most culpably improvident of his
personal safety, of the lives of his officers and men,
and of his country's honor.
The demand of 500,0001. was a thing likely to
irritate the Rajah and to create resistance. In fact,
he confesses this. Mr. Markham and he had a
discourse upon that subject, and agreed to arrest
the Rajah, because they thought the enforcing this
demand might drive him to his forts, and excite a
rebellion in the country. He-therefore knew there
was danger to be apprehended from this act of violence. And yet, knowing ithis,' he sent one unarmed Resident to give the orders, and four'unarmed companies of sepoys to support him. He provokes the people, he goads them with every kind of insult
added to every kind of injury, and then rushes into
the very jaws of danger, provoking a formidable foe
by the display of a puny, insignificant force.
In expectation of danger, he seized the person of
the Rajah, and he pretends that the Rajah suffered
no disgrace from his arrest. But, my Lords, we
have proved, what was stated by the iRajah, and was
? ? ? ? 278 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
well known to Mr. Hastings, that to imprison a person of elevated station, in that country, is to subject him to the highest dishonor and disgrace, and would make the person so imprisoned utterly unfit to execute the functions of government ever after.
I have now to state to your Lordships a transaction which is worse than his wantonly playing
with the safety of the Company, worse than his exacting sums of money by fraud and violence. My Lords, the history of this transaction must be prefaced by describing to your Lordships the duty and privileges attached to the office of Naib. A Naib
is an officer well known in India, as the administrator of the affairs of any government, whenever
the authority of the regular holder is suspended.
But, although the Naib acts only as a deputy, yet,
when the power of the principal is totally superseded, as by imprisonment or otherwise, and that
of the Naib is substituted, he becomes the actual
sovereign, and the principal is reduced to a mere
pensioner. I am now to show your' Lordships whom
Mr. Hastings appointed as Naib to the government of
the country, after he had imprisoned the Rajah.
Cheyt Sing had given him to understand through
Mr. Markham, that he was aware of the design of
suspending him, and of placing his government in
the hands of a Naib whom he greatly dreaded. This
person was called Ussaun Sing; he was a remote relation of the family, and an object of their peculiar suspicion and terror. The moment Cheyt Sing was
arrested, lie found that his prophetic soul spoke truly; for Mr. Hastings actually appointed this very man to be his master. And who was this man? We are
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 279
told by Mr. Markham, in his evidence here, that he
was a man who had dishonored his family, - he
was the disgrace of his house, -that he was a
person who could not be trusted; and Mr. Hastings,
in giving Mr. Markham full power afterwards to
appoint Naibs, expressly'excepted this Ussaun Sing
from all trust whatever, as a person totally unworthy of it. Yet this Ussaun Sing, the disgrace and
calamity of his family, an incestuous adulterer, and
a supposed issue of a guilty connection, was declared Naib. Yes, my Lords, this degraded, this
wicked and flagitious character, the Rajah's avowed
enemy, was, in order to heighten the Rajah's disgrace, to embitter his ruin, to make destruction itself dishonorable as well as destructive, appointed this [his? ] Naib. ' Thus, when Mr. Hastings had imprisoned the Rajah, in the face of his subjects, and in
the face of all India, without fixing any term for
the duration of his imprisonment, he delivered up
the country to a man whom he knewv to be utterly
undeserving, a man whom he kept in view for the
purpose of frightening the Rajah, and whom lie was
obliged to depose on account of his misconduct almost as soon as he had named him, and to exclude
specially from all kind of trust. We have heard of
much tyranny, avarice, and insult in the world; but
such an instance of tyranny, avarice, and insult combinled has never before been exhibited.
We are now come to the last scene of this flagitious transactu)n. When Mr. Hastings imprisoned
the Rajah, he did not renew his demand for the
500,0001. , but he exhibited a regular charge of various pretended delinquencies against him, digested
into heads, and lie called on him, in a dilatory, ir
? ? ? ? 280 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
regular way of proceeding, for an answer. The man,
under every difficulty and every distress, gave an
answer to every particular of the charge, as exact
and punctilious as could have been made to articles
of impeachment in this House.
I must here request your Lordships to consider
the order of these proceedings. Mr. Hastings, having determined upon the utter ruin and destruction
of this unfortunate prince, endeavored, by the arrest
of his person, by a contemptuous disregard to his
submissive applications, by -the appointment of a
deputy who was personally odious to him, and by
the terror of still greater insults, he endeavored, I
say, to goad him on to the commission of some acts
of resistance sufficient to give a color of justice to
that last dreadful extremity to whi6h he had resolved
to carry his malignant rapacity. Failing in this
wicked project, and studiously avoiding the declaration of any terms upon which the Rajah might redeem himself from these violent proceedings, he next declared his intention of seizing his forts, the depository of his victim's honor, and of the means of
his subsistence. He required him to deliver up his
accounts and accountants, together with all persons
who were acquainted with the particulars of his effects and -treasures, for the purpose of transferring
those effects to such persons as he (Mr. Hastings)
chose to nominate.
It was at this crisis of aggravated insult and brutality that the indignation which these proceedings
had occasioned in the breasts of the Rajah's subjects
burst out into an open flame. The Rajah had retired to the last refuge of the afflicted, to offer up
prayers to his God and our God, when a vile chubdar,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. SECOND DAY. ' 281
or tipstaff, came to interrupt and insult him. His
alarmed and loyal subjects felt for a beloved sovereign that deep interest which we should all feel, if
our sovereign were so treated. What man with a
spark of loyalty in his breast, what man regardful of
the honor of his country, when he saw his sovereign
imprisoned, and so notorious a wretch appointed his
deputy, could be a patient witness of such wrongs?
The subjects of this unfortunate prince did what we
should have done,- what all who love their country,
who love their liberty, who love their laws, who love
their property, who love their sovereign, would have
done on such an occasion. They looked upon him as
their sovereign, although degraded. They were unacquainted with any authority superior to his, and
the phantom of tyranny which performed these oppressive acts was unaccompanied by that force which justifies submission by affording the plea of necessity. An unseen tyrant and four miserable companies of
sepoys executed all the horrible tl-lings that we have
mentioned. The spirit of the Rajah's subjects was
roused by their wrongs, and encouraged by the contemptible weakness of their oppressors. The whole
country rose up in rebellion, and surely in justifiable
rebellion. Every writer on the Law of Nations, every
man that has written, thought, or felt upon the affairs
of government, must write, know, think, and feel,
that a people so cruelly scourged and oppressed, both
in the person of their chief and in their own persons,
were justified in their resistance. They were roused
to vengeance, and a short, but most bloody war followed.
We charge the prisoner at your bar with all the
consequences of this war. We charge him with the
? ? ? ? 282 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
murder of our sepoys, whom he sent unarmed to
such a dangerous enterprise. We charge him with
the blood of every man that was shed in that place;
and we call him, as we have called him, a tyrant, an
oppressor, and a murderer. We call him murderer in
the largest and fullest sense of the word; because he
was the cause of the murder of our English officers
and sepoys, whom he kept unarmed, and unacquainted with the danger to which they would be exposed by the violence of his transactions. He sacrificed to
his own nefarious views every one of those lives, as
well as the lives of the innocent natives of Benares,
whom he designedly drove to resistance by the weakness of the force opposed to them, after inciting them by tyranny and insult to that display of affection to,
wards their sovereign which is the duty of all good
subjects.
My Lords, these are the iniquities which we have
charged upon the prisoner at your bar; and I will
next call your Lordships' attention to the manner in
which these iniquities have been pretended to be justified. You will perceive a great difference in' the manner in which this prisoner is tried, and of which
he so much complains, and the manner in which he
dealt with the unfortunate object of his oppression.
The latter thus openly appeals to his accuser. "You
are," says he, "upon the spot. It is happy for me
that you are so. You can now inquire into my conduct. " Did Mr. Hastings so inquire? No, my
Lords, we have not a word of any inquiry; he even
found fresh matter of charge in the answer of the
Rajah, although, if there is any fault in this answer,
it is its extremely humble and submissive tone. If
there was anything faulty in his manner, it was his
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SECOND DAY. 283
extreme humility and submission. It is plain he
would have almost submitted to anything. He offered, in fact, 220,0001. to redeem himself from greater suffering. - Surely no man going into rebellion would offer 220,0001. of the treasure which would be
so essential to his success; nor would any government that was really apprehensive of rebellion call
upon the suspected person to arm and discipline two
thousand horse. My Lords, it is evident no such
apprehensions were entertained; nor was any such
charge made until punishment had commenced. A
vague accusation was then brought forward, which
was answered by a clear and a natural defence, denying some parts of the charge, evading and apologizing for others, and desiring tile whole to be inquired into. To this request the answer of the GovernorGeneral was,," That won't do; you shall have no
inquiries. " And why? " Because I have arbitrary
power, you have no rights, and I can and will punish
you without inquiry. " I admit, that, if his will is the
law, he may take [make? ] the charge before punishment or the punishment before the charge, or he may
punish without making any charge. If his will is the
law, all I have been saying amounts to nothing. But
I have endeavored to let your Lordships see that in
no couhtry upon the earth is the will of a despot law.
It may produce wicked, flagitious, tyrannical acts;
but in no country is it law.
The duty of a sovereign in cases of rebellion, as
laid down in the Hedaya, agrees with the general
practice in India. It was usual, except in cases
of notorious injustice and oppression, whenever a
rebellion or a suspicion of a rebellion existed, to admonish the rebellious party and persuade him to
? ? ? ? 284 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN: HASTINGS.
return to'his duty. 'Causes of complaint were' removed and misunderstandings explained, and, to:save
the effusion of blood, severe measures were not adopted-until they were rendered indispensable. This wise and provident law is or ought to be the law in all
countries: it was in fact the law' in that country,
but Mr. Hastings did not attend to it. His unfortunate victim was goaded to revolt and driven from
his subjects, although he endeavored by message after message to reconcile this cruel tyrant to him.
He is told in reply, "You have shed the blood of
Englishmen, and I will never be reconciled to you. "
Your Lordships will observe that the reason he gives
for such an infernal determination (for it cannot be
justly qualified by any other word) is of a nature
to make tyranny the very foundation of our government. I do not say here upon what occasion
people may or may not resist; but surely, if ever
there was an occasion on which people, from love to
their sovereign and regard to their country, might
take up -arms, it was this. They saw a tyrant violent in his demands and weak in his power. They
saw their prince imprisoned and insulted, after he
had made every offer of submission, and had laid his
turban three times in the lap of his oppressor. They
saw him, instead of availing himself of the means he
pessessed of cutting'off his adversary, (for the life
of Mr. Hastings was entirely in his power,) betaking
himself to flight. They then thronged round him,
took up arms in his defence, and shed the blood of
some of his insulters. Is this resistance, so excited,
so provoked, a plea for irreconcilable vengeance?
I must beg pardon for having omitted to lay before
your Lordships in its proper place a most extraor
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SECOND DAY. 285
dinary paper,' which will show you in what manner
judicial inquiries are. conducted, upon what grounds
charges are:made, by'wliat sort of evidence they are
supported, and, in short, to what perils the lives and
fortunes of men are subjected in that country. This
paper is in the printed Minutes, page 1608. It was
given in agreeably to the retrograde'order which they
have established in their judicial proceedings. It was
produced to prove the truth of a charge of rebellion
whichl was made some months before the paper in
evidence was known to the accuser.
" To the Honorable Warren Hastings.
SIR,- About the month of November last, I communicated to Mr. Markham the substance of a conversation said to have passed between Rajah Cheyt Sing and Saadut Alli, and which was reported to me
by a person in whom I had some confidence. The
mpde of communicating this intelligence to you I
left entirely to Mr. Markham. In this conversation,
which was private, the Rajah and Saadut Ali were said
to have talked of Iyder Ali's victory over Colonel
Baillie's detachment, to have agreed that they ought
to seize this opportunity of consulting their own interest, and to have determined to watch the success
of iyder's arms.
Some days after this conversation
was said to have happened, I was informed by the
same person that the Rajah had received a message
from one of the Begums at Fyzabad, (I think it was
from Sujah ul Dowlah's widow,). advising him not
to comply with the demands of government, and encouraging him to expect support. in case of his resisting. This also, I believe, I communicated to Mr. Markham; but not being perfectly certain, I now
? ? ? ? 286 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
think it my duty to remove the possibility of your
remaining unacquainted with a circumstance which
may not be unconnected with the present conduct of
the Rajah. "
Here, then, is evidence of evidence given to Mr.
Markham by Mr. Balfour, from Lucknow, in the month
of November, 1781, long after the transaction at Benares. But what was this evidence? " I communicated," he says, " the substance of a conversation said to have passed. " Observe, said: not a conversation
that had passed to his knowledge or recollection, but
what his informant said had passed. He adds, this
conversation was reported to him by a person whom
he won't name, but in whom, he says, he had some
confidence. This anonymous person, in whom he
had put some confidence, was not himself present at
the conversation;. he only reports to him that it was
said by somebody else that such a conversation had
taken place. This conversation, which somebody
told Colonel Balfour he had heard was said by somebody to have taken place, if true, related to matters
of great importance; still the mode of its communication was left to Mr. Markham, and that gentleman
did not bring it forward till some months after.
Colonel Balfour proceeds to say,-" Some days after
this conversation was said to have happened," (your
Lordships will observe it is always, "was said to
have happened,") "' I was informed by the same person that the Rajah had received a message from one
of the Begums at Fyzabad, (I think it was from
Sujah ul Dowlah's widow,) advising him not to comply with the demands of government, and encouraging him to expect support in case of his resisting. "
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 287
He next adds,-" This also, I believe," (observe, he
says he is not quite sure of it,) "I communicated to
Mr. Markham; but not being perfectly certain," (of
a matter the immediate knowledge of which, if true,
was of the highest importance to his country,) "I
now think it my duty to remove the possibility of
your remaining unacquainted with a circumstance
which may not be unconnected with the present conduct of the Rajah. "
Here is a man that comes with information long
after the fact deposed to, and, after having left to
another the communication of his intelligence to
the proper authority, that other neglects the matter.
No letter of Mr. Markham's appears, communicating
any such conversation to Mr. Hastings: and, indeed,
why he did not do so must appear very obvious to
your Lordships; for a more contemptible, ridiculous,
and absurd story never was invented. Does Mr.
Balfour come forward and tell him who his informant was? No. Does he say, "He was an informant whom I dare not name, upon account of his great consequence, and the great confidence I had
in him "? No. He only says slightly, "I have some
confidence in him. " It is upon this evidence of a
reporter of what another is said to have said, that
Mr. Hastings and his Council rely for proof, and
have thought proper to charge the Rajah with having
conceived rebellious designs soon after the time when
Mr. Hastings had declared his belief that no such
designs had been formed.
Mr. Hastings has done. with his charge of rebellion
what he did with his declaration of arbitrary power:
after he had vomited it up in one place, he returns
to it in another. He here declares (after he had
? ? ? ? 288 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
recorded his belief that no rebellion was ever intended) that Mr. Markham was in possession of informa.
tion which he might have believed, if it had been
communicated to him. Good heavens! when you review all these circumstances, and consider the principles upon which this man was tried and punished, what must you think of the miserable situation of
persons of the highest rank in that country, under
the government of men who are disposed to disgrace
and ruin them in this iniquitous manner!
Mr. Balfour is in Europe, I believe. How comes
it that he is not produced here to tell your Lordships
who was his informer, and what he knows of the
transaction? They have not produced him, but have
thought fit to rely upon this miserable, beggarly
semblance of evidence, the very production of which
was a crime, when brought forward for the purpose
of giving color to acts of injustice and oppression.
If you ask, Who is this Mr. Balfour? He is a person who was a military collector of revenue in the
province of Rohilcund: a country now ruined and
desolated, but once the garden of the world. It was
from the depth of that horrible devastating system
that he gave this ridiculous, contemptible evidence,
which if it can be equalled, I shall admit that there
is not one word we have said that you ought to
attend to.
Your Lordships are now enabled to sum up the
amount and estimate the result of all this iniquity.
The Rajah himself is punished, he is ruined and
undone; but the 500,0001. is not gained. He has
fled his country; but he carried his treasures with
him. His forts are taken possession of; but there
was nothing found in them. It is the report of
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 289
the country, and is so stated by Mr. Hastings, that
he carried away with him in gold and silver to the
value of about 400,0001. ; and thus that sum was totally lost, even as an object of plunder, to the Company. The author of the mischief lost his favorite object by his cruelty and violence. If Mr. Hastings had listened to Cheyt Sing at first, --if he had answered his letters, and dealt civilly with him,if he had endeavored afterwards to compromise matters, - if he had told him what his demands were,if, even after the rebellion had broken out, he had
demanded and exacted a fine, - the Company would
have gained 220,0001. at least, and perhaps a much
larger sum, without difficulty. They would not then
have had 400,0001. carried out of the country by a
tributary chief, to become, as we know that sum has
become, the plunder of the Mahrattas and our other
enemies. I state to you the account of the profit
and loss of tyranny: take it as an account of profit
and loss; forget the morality, forget the law, forget
the policy; take it, I say, as a matter of profit and
loss. Mr. Hastings lost the subsidy; Mr. Hastings
lost the 220,0001. which was offered him, and more
that he might have got. Mr. Hastings lost it all;
and the Company lost the 400,0001. which he meant
to exact. It was carried from the British dominions
to enrich its enemies forever.
This man, my Lords, has not only acted thus vindictively himself, but he has avowed the principle of
revenge as a general rule of policy, connected with
the security of the British government in India. , He
has dared to declare, that, if a native once draws his
sword, he is not to be pardoned; that you never are
to forgive any man who has killed an English soldier.
VOL. XT 19
? ? ? ? 290 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
You are to be implacable and resentful; and there
is no maxim of tyrants, which, upon account of the
supposed weakness of your government, you are not
to pursue. Was this the conduct of the Mogul conquerors of India? and must this necessarily be the policy of their Christian successors? I pledge myself, if called upon, to prove the contrary. I pledge myself to produce, in the history of the Mogul empire, a series of pardons and amnesties for rebellions, from its earliest establishments, and in its most distant provinces.
I need not state to your Lordships what you know
to be the true principles of British policy in matters
of this nature. 'When there has been provocation,
you ought to be ready to listen to terms of reconciliation, even after war has been made. This you
ought to do, to show that you are placable; such policy as this would doubtless be of the greatest benefit and advantage to you. Look to the case of Sujah
Dowlah. You had, in the course of a war with him,
driven him from his country; you had not left him
in possession of a foot of earth in the world. The
Mogul was his sovereign, and, by his authority, it
was in your power to dispose of the vizierate, and
of every office of state which Sujah Dowlah held
under the emperor: for he hated him mortally, and
was desirous of dispossessing him of everything.
What did you do? 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.
might not as well have made at Calcutta? Is there
an article that he broke (for he broke them all) that
he could not have broken at Calcutta? So that,
whether pledging or breaking the faith of the Company, he might have done both or either without
ever stirring from the Presidency.
I can conceive a necessity so urgent as to supersede all laws; but I have no conception of a necessity
that can require two governors-general, each forming separately a supreme council. Nay, to bring the
point home to him,-if. he had a mind to make
Cheyt Sing to pay a fine, as he called it, he could
have made him do that at Calcutta as well as at
Benares. He had before contrived to make him pay
all the extra demands that were iinposed upon him;
and he well knew that he could send Colonel Camac,
or somebody else, to Benares, with a body of troops
to enforce the payment. Why, then, did he go to
try experiments there in his own person? For this
plain reason: that he might be enabled to put such
sums in his own pocket as he thought fit. It was
not and could not be for any other purpose; and I
defy the wit of man to find out any other.
He says, my Lords, that Cheyt Sing might have
resisted, and that, if he had not been there, the Rajah might have fled with his money, or raised a rebellion for the purpose of avoiding payment. Why, then, we ask, did he not send an army? We ask,
whether Mr. Markham, with an army under the
command of Colonel Popham, or Mr. Fowke, or any
other Resident, was not much more likely to exact
? ? ? ? 276 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
a great sum of money than' Mr. Hastings without
an army? My Lords, the answer must be in the affirmative; it is therefore evident that no necessity
could exist for his presence, and that his presence
and conduct occasioned his being defeated in this
matter.
We find this man, armed with an illegal commission, undeirtaking an enterprise which he has since
said was perilous, which proved to be perilous, and
in which, as he has told us himself, the existence of
the British empire in India was involved. The talisman, (your Lordships will remember his use of the
word,) that charm which kept all India in order,
which kept mighty; and warlike nations under the
government of a few Englishmen, would, I verily believe, have been broken forever, if he, or any other
Governor-General, good or bad, had been killed. Infinite mischiefs would have followed such an event.
The situation in which he placed himself, by his own
misconduct, was pregnant with danger; and he put
himself in the way of that danger without having
any armed force worth mentioning, although -he
has acknowledged that Cheyt Sing had then an immense force. In fact, the demand of two thousand
cavalry proves that he considered the Rajah's army
to be formidable; yet, notwithstanding this, with four
companies of sepoys, poorly armed and ill provisioned, he went to invade that fine country, and to
force from its sovereign a sum of money, the payment of which he had reason to think would be resisted. He thus rashly hazarded his own being and the being of all his people.
"But," says he, " I did not imagine the Rajah intended to go into rebellion, and therefore went un
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. SECOND DAY. 277
armed. "' Why, then, was his presence necessary?
Why did he not send an order' from Calcutta for the
paymhent of the money? But what did he do, when
he got there? "I was alarmed," says he; "for the
Rajah surrounded my budgero'with two thousand
men: that indicated a hostile disposition. " Well, if
he did so, what precaution did: Mr. Hastings take for
his own safety? Why, none, my Lords, none. He
must therefore have been either a madman, a fool,
or a determined declarer of-falsehood. Either he
thought there was no danger, and thei-efore no occasion for providing against it, or he was the worst of governors, the most culpably improvident of his
personal safety, of the lives of his officers and men,
and of his country's honor.
The demand of 500,0001. was a thing likely to
irritate the Rajah and to create resistance. In fact,
he confesses this. Mr. Markham and he had a
discourse upon that subject, and agreed to arrest
the Rajah, because they thought the enforcing this
demand might drive him to his forts, and excite a
rebellion in the country. He-therefore knew there
was danger to be apprehended from this act of violence. And yet, knowing ithis,' he sent one unarmed Resident to give the orders, and four'unarmed companies of sepoys to support him. He provokes the people, he goads them with every kind of insult
added to every kind of injury, and then rushes into
the very jaws of danger, provoking a formidable foe
by the display of a puny, insignificant force.
In expectation of danger, he seized the person of
the Rajah, and he pretends that the Rajah suffered
no disgrace from his arrest. But, my Lords, we
have proved, what was stated by the iRajah, and was
? ? ? ? 278 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
well known to Mr. Hastings, that to imprison a person of elevated station, in that country, is to subject him to the highest dishonor and disgrace, and would make the person so imprisoned utterly unfit to execute the functions of government ever after.
I have now to state to your Lordships a transaction which is worse than his wantonly playing
with the safety of the Company, worse than his exacting sums of money by fraud and violence. My Lords, the history of this transaction must be prefaced by describing to your Lordships the duty and privileges attached to the office of Naib. A Naib
is an officer well known in India, as the administrator of the affairs of any government, whenever
the authority of the regular holder is suspended.
But, although the Naib acts only as a deputy, yet,
when the power of the principal is totally superseded, as by imprisonment or otherwise, and that
of the Naib is substituted, he becomes the actual
sovereign, and the principal is reduced to a mere
pensioner. I am now to show your' Lordships whom
Mr. Hastings appointed as Naib to the government of
the country, after he had imprisoned the Rajah.
Cheyt Sing had given him to understand through
Mr. Markham, that he was aware of the design of
suspending him, and of placing his government in
the hands of a Naib whom he greatly dreaded. This
person was called Ussaun Sing; he was a remote relation of the family, and an object of their peculiar suspicion and terror. The moment Cheyt Sing was
arrested, lie found that his prophetic soul spoke truly; for Mr. Hastings actually appointed this very man to be his master. And who was this man? We are
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 279
told by Mr. Markham, in his evidence here, that he
was a man who had dishonored his family, - he
was the disgrace of his house, -that he was a
person who could not be trusted; and Mr. Hastings,
in giving Mr. Markham full power afterwards to
appoint Naibs, expressly'excepted this Ussaun Sing
from all trust whatever, as a person totally unworthy of it. Yet this Ussaun Sing, the disgrace and
calamity of his family, an incestuous adulterer, and
a supposed issue of a guilty connection, was declared Naib. Yes, my Lords, this degraded, this
wicked and flagitious character, the Rajah's avowed
enemy, was, in order to heighten the Rajah's disgrace, to embitter his ruin, to make destruction itself dishonorable as well as destructive, appointed this [his? ] Naib. ' Thus, when Mr. Hastings had imprisoned the Rajah, in the face of his subjects, and in
the face of all India, without fixing any term for
the duration of his imprisonment, he delivered up
the country to a man whom he knewv to be utterly
undeserving, a man whom he kept in view for the
purpose of frightening the Rajah, and whom lie was
obliged to depose on account of his misconduct almost as soon as he had named him, and to exclude
specially from all kind of trust. We have heard of
much tyranny, avarice, and insult in the world; but
such an instance of tyranny, avarice, and insult combinled has never before been exhibited.
We are now come to the last scene of this flagitious transactu)n. When Mr. Hastings imprisoned
the Rajah, he did not renew his demand for the
500,0001. , but he exhibited a regular charge of various pretended delinquencies against him, digested
into heads, and lie called on him, in a dilatory, ir
? ? ? ? 280 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
regular way of proceeding, for an answer. The man,
under every difficulty and every distress, gave an
answer to every particular of the charge, as exact
and punctilious as could have been made to articles
of impeachment in this House.
I must here request your Lordships to consider
the order of these proceedings. Mr. Hastings, having determined upon the utter ruin and destruction
of this unfortunate prince, endeavored, by the arrest
of his person, by a contemptuous disregard to his
submissive applications, by -the appointment of a
deputy who was personally odious to him, and by
the terror of still greater insults, he endeavored, I
say, to goad him on to the commission of some acts
of resistance sufficient to give a color of justice to
that last dreadful extremity to whi6h he had resolved
to carry his malignant rapacity. Failing in this
wicked project, and studiously avoiding the declaration of any terms upon which the Rajah might redeem himself from these violent proceedings, he next declared his intention of seizing his forts, the depository of his victim's honor, and of the means of
his subsistence. He required him to deliver up his
accounts and accountants, together with all persons
who were acquainted with the particulars of his effects and -treasures, for the purpose of transferring
those effects to such persons as he (Mr. Hastings)
chose to nominate.
It was at this crisis of aggravated insult and brutality that the indignation which these proceedings
had occasioned in the breasts of the Rajah's subjects
burst out into an open flame. The Rajah had retired to the last refuge of the afflicted, to offer up
prayers to his God and our God, when a vile chubdar,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. SECOND DAY. ' 281
or tipstaff, came to interrupt and insult him. His
alarmed and loyal subjects felt for a beloved sovereign that deep interest which we should all feel, if
our sovereign were so treated. What man with a
spark of loyalty in his breast, what man regardful of
the honor of his country, when he saw his sovereign
imprisoned, and so notorious a wretch appointed his
deputy, could be a patient witness of such wrongs?
The subjects of this unfortunate prince did what we
should have done,- what all who love their country,
who love their liberty, who love their laws, who love
their property, who love their sovereign, would have
done on such an occasion. They looked upon him as
their sovereign, although degraded. They were unacquainted with any authority superior to his, and
the phantom of tyranny which performed these oppressive acts was unaccompanied by that force which justifies submission by affording the plea of necessity. An unseen tyrant and four miserable companies of
sepoys executed all the horrible tl-lings that we have
mentioned. The spirit of the Rajah's subjects was
roused by their wrongs, and encouraged by the contemptible weakness of their oppressors. The whole
country rose up in rebellion, and surely in justifiable
rebellion. Every writer on the Law of Nations, every
man that has written, thought, or felt upon the affairs
of government, must write, know, think, and feel,
that a people so cruelly scourged and oppressed, both
in the person of their chief and in their own persons,
were justified in their resistance. They were roused
to vengeance, and a short, but most bloody war followed.
We charge the prisoner at your bar with all the
consequences of this war. We charge him with the
? ? ? ? 282 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
murder of our sepoys, whom he sent unarmed to
such a dangerous enterprise. We charge him with
the blood of every man that was shed in that place;
and we call him, as we have called him, a tyrant, an
oppressor, and a murderer. We call him murderer in
the largest and fullest sense of the word; because he
was the cause of the murder of our English officers
and sepoys, whom he kept unarmed, and unacquainted with the danger to which they would be exposed by the violence of his transactions. He sacrificed to
his own nefarious views every one of those lives, as
well as the lives of the innocent natives of Benares,
whom he designedly drove to resistance by the weakness of the force opposed to them, after inciting them by tyranny and insult to that display of affection to,
wards their sovereign which is the duty of all good
subjects.
My Lords, these are the iniquities which we have
charged upon the prisoner at your bar; and I will
next call your Lordships' attention to the manner in
which these iniquities have been pretended to be justified. You will perceive a great difference in' the manner in which this prisoner is tried, and of which
he so much complains, and the manner in which he
dealt with the unfortunate object of his oppression.
The latter thus openly appeals to his accuser. "You
are," says he, "upon the spot. It is happy for me
that you are so. You can now inquire into my conduct. " Did Mr. Hastings so inquire? No, my
Lords, we have not a word of any inquiry; he even
found fresh matter of charge in the answer of the
Rajah, although, if there is any fault in this answer,
it is its extremely humble and submissive tone. If
there was anything faulty in his manner, it was his
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SECOND DAY. 283
extreme humility and submission. It is plain he
would have almost submitted to anything. He offered, in fact, 220,0001. to redeem himself from greater suffering. - Surely no man going into rebellion would offer 220,0001. of the treasure which would be
so essential to his success; nor would any government that was really apprehensive of rebellion call
upon the suspected person to arm and discipline two
thousand horse. My Lords, it is evident no such
apprehensions were entertained; nor was any such
charge made until punishment had commenced. A
vague accusation was then brought forward, which
was answered by a clear and a natural defence, denying some parts of the charge, evading and apologizing for others, and desiring tile whole to be inquired into. To this request the answer of the GovernorGeneral was,," That won't do; you shall have no
inquiries. " And why? " Because I have arbitrary
power, you have no rights, and I can and will punish
you without inquiry. " I admit, that, if his will is the
law, he may take [make? ] the charge before punishment or the punishment before the charge, or he may
punish without making any charge. If his will is the
law, all I have been saying amounts to nothing. But
I have endeavored to let your Lordships see that in
no couhtry upon the earth is the will of a despot law.
It may produce wicked, flagitious, tyrannical acts;
but in no country is it law.
The duty of a sovereign in cases of rebellion, as
laid down in the Hedaya, agrees with the general
practice in India. It was usual, except in cases
of notorious injustice and oppression, whenever a
rebellion or a suspicion of a rebellion existed, to admonish the rebellious party and persuade him to
? ? ? ? 284 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN: HASTINGS.
return to'his duty. 'Causes of complaint were' removed and misunderstandings explained, and, to:save
the effusion of blood, severe measures were not adopted-until they were rendered indispensable. This wise and provident law is or ought to be the law in all
countries: it was in fact the law' in that country,
but Mr. Hastings did not attend to it. His unfortunate victim was goaded to revolt and driven from
his subjects, although he endeavored by message after message to reconcile this cruel tyrant to him.
He is told in reply, "You have shed the blood of
Englishmen, and I will never be reconciled to you. "
Your Lordships will observe that the reason he gives
for such an infernal determination (for it cannot be
justly qualified by any other word) is of a nature
to make tyranny the very foundation of our government. I do not say here upon what occasion
people may or may not resist; but surely, if ever
there was an occasion on which people, from love to
their sovereign and regard to their country, might
take up -arms, it was this. They saw a tyrant violent in his demands and weak in his power. They
saw their prince imprisoned and insulted, after he
had made every offer of submission, and had laid his
turban three times in the lap of his oppressor. They
saw him, instead of availing himself of the means he
pessessed of cutting'off his adversary, (for the life
of Mr. Hastings was entirely in his power,) betaking
himself to flight. They then thronged round him,
took up arms in his defence, and shed the blood of
some of his insulters. Is this resistance, so excited,
so provoked, a plea for irreconcilable vengeance?
I must beg pardon for having omitted to lay before
your Lordships in its proper place a most extraor
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SECOND DAY. 285
dinary paper,' which will show you in what manner
judicial inquiries are. conducted, upon what grounds
charges are:made, by'wliat sort of evidence they are
supported, and, in short, to what perils the lives and
fortunes of men are subjected in that country. This
paper is in the printed Minutes, page 1608. It was
given in agreeably to the retrograde'order which they
have established in their judicial proceedings. It was
produced to prove the truth of a charge of rebellion
whichl was made some months before the paper in
evidence was known to the accuser.
" To the Honorable Warren Hastings.
SIR,- About the month of November last, I communicated to Mr. Markham the substance of a conversation said to have passed between Rajah Cheyt Sing and Saadut Alli, and which was reported to me
by a person in whom I had some confidence. The
mpde of communicating this intelligence to you I
left entirely to Mr. Markham. In this conversation,
which was private, the Rajah and Saadut Ali were said
to have talked of Iyder Ali's victory over Colonel
Baillie's detachment, to have agreed that they ought
to seize this opportunity of consulting their own interest, and to have determined to watch the success
of iyder's arms.
Some days after this conversation
was said to have happened, I was informed by the
same person that the Rajah had received a message
from one of the Begums at Fyzabad, (I think it was
from Sujah ul Dowlah's widow,). advising him not
to comply with the demands of government, and encouraging him to expect support. in case of his resisting. This also, I believe, I communicated to Mr. Markham; but not being perfectly certain, I now
? ? ? ? 286 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
think it my duty to remove the possibility of your
remaining unacquainted with a circumstance which
may not be unconnected with the present conduct of
the Rajah. "
Here, then, is evidence of evidence given to Mr.
Markham by Mr. Balfour, from Lucknow, in the month
of November, 1781, long after the transaction at Benares. But what was this evidence? " I communicated," he says, " the substance of a conversation said to have passed. " Observe, said: not a conversation
that had passed to his knowledge or recollection, but
what his informant said had passed. He adds, this
conversation was reported to him by a person whom
he won't name, but in whom, he says, he had some
confidence. This anonymous person, in whom he
had put some confidence, was not himself present at
the conversation;. he only reports to him that it was
said by somebody else that such a conversation had
taken place. This conversation, which somebody
told Colonel Balfour he had heard was said by somebody to have taken place, if true, related to matters
of great importance; still the mode of its communication was left to Mr. Markham, and that gentleman
did not bring it forward till some months after.
Colonel Balfour proceeds to say,-" Some days after
this conversation was said to have happened," (your
Lordships will observe it is always, "was said to
have happened,") "' I was informed by the same person that the Rajah had received a message from one
of the Begums at Fyzabad, (I think it was from
Sujah ul Dowlah's widow,) advising him not to comply with the demands of government, and encouraging him to expect support in case of his resisting. "
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 287
He next adds,-" This also, I believe," (observe, he
says he is not quite sure of it,) "I communicated to
Mr. Markham; but not being perfectly certain," (of
a matter the immediate knowledge of which, if true,
was of the highest importance to his country,) "I
now think it my duty to remove the possibility of
your remaining unacquainted with a circumstance
which may not be unconnected with the present conduct of the Rajah. "
Here is a man that comes with information long
after the fact deposed to, and, after having left to
another the communication of his intelligence to
the proper authority, that other neglects the matter.
No letter of Mr. Markham's appears, communicating
any such conversation to Mr. Hastings: and, indeed,
why he did not do so must appear very obvious to
your Lordships; for a more contemptible, ridiculous,
and absurd story never was invented. Does Mr.
Balfour come forward and tell him who his informant was? No. Does he say, "He was an informant whom I dare not name, upon account of his great consequence, and the great confidence I had
in him "? No. He only says slightly, "I have some
confidence in him. " It is upon this evidence of a
reporter of what another is said to have said, that
Mr. Hastings and his Council rely for proof, and
have thought proper to charge the Rajah with having
conceived rebellious designs soon after the time when
Mr. Hastings had declared his belief that no such
designs had been formed.
Mr. Hastings has done. with his charge of rebellion
what he did with his declaration of arbitrary power:
after he had vomited it up in one place, he returns
to it in another. He here declares (after he had
? ? ? ? 288 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
recorded his belief that no rebellion was ever intended) that Mr. Markham was in possession of informa.
tion which he might have believed, if it had been
communicated to him. Good heavens! when you review all these circumstances, and consider the principles upon which this man was tried and punished, what must you think of the miserable situation of
persons of the highest rank in that country, under
the government of men who are disposed to disgrace
and ruin them in this iniquitous manner!
Mr. Balfour is in Europe, I believe. How comes
it that he is not produced here to tell your Lordships
who was his informer, and what he knows of the
transaction? They have not produced him, but have
thought fit to rely upon this miserable, beggarly
semblance of evidence, the very production of which
was a crime, when brought forward for the purpose
of giving color to acts of injustice and oppression.
If you ask, Who is this Mr. Balfour? He is a person who was a military collector of revenue in the
province of Rohilcund: a country now ruined and
desolated, but once the garden of the world. It was
from the depth of that horrible devastating system
that he gave this ridiculous, contemptible evidence,
which if it can be equalled, I shall admit that there
is not one word we have said that you ought to
attend to.
Your Lordships are now enabled to sum up the
amount and estimate the result of all this iniquity.
The Rajah himself is punished, he is ruined and
undone; but the 500,0001. is not gained. He has
fled his country; but he carried his treasures with
him. His forts are taken possession of; but there
was nothing found in them. It is the report of
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SECOND DAY. 289
the country, and is so stated by Mr. Hastings, that
he carried away with him in gold and silver to the
value of about 400,0001. ; and thus that sum was totally lost, even as an object of plunder, to the Company. The author of the mischief lost his favorite object by his cruelty and violence. If Mr. Hastings had listened to Cheyt Sing at first, --if he had answered his letters, and dealt civilly with him,if he had endeavored afterwards to compromise matters, - if he had told him what his demands were,if, even after the rebellion had broken out, he had
demanded and exacted a fine, - the Company would
have gained 220,0001. at least, and perhaps a much
larger sum, without difficulty. They would not then
have had 400,0001. carried out of the country by a
tributary chief, to become, as we know that sum has
become, the plunder of the Mahrattas and our other
enemies. I state to you the account of the profit
and loss of tyranny: take it as an account of profit
and loss; forget the morality, forget the law, forget
the policy; take it, I say, as a matter of profit and
loss. Mr. Hastings lost the subsidy; Mr. Hastings
lost the 220,0001. which was offered him, and more
that he might have got. Mr. Hastings lost it all;
and the Company lost the 400,0001. which he meant
to exact. It was carried from the British dominions
to enrich its enemies forever.
This man, my Lords, has not only acted thus vindictively himself, but he has avowed the principle of
revenge as a general rule of policy, connected with
the security of the British government in India. , He
has dared to declare, that, if a native once draws his
sword, he is not to be pardoned; that you never are
to forgive any man who has killed an English soldier.
VOL. XT 19
? ? ? ? 290 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
You are to be implacable and resentful; and there
is no maxim of tyrants, which, upon account of the
supposed weakness of your government, you are not
to pursue. Was this the conduct of the Mogul conquerors of India? and must this necessarily be the policy of their Christian successors? I pledge myself, if called upon, to prove the contrary. I pledge myself to produce, in the history of the Mogul empire, a series of pardons and amnesties for rebellions, from its earliest establishments, and in its most distant provinces.
I need not state to your Lordships what you know
to be the true principles of British policy in matters
of this nature. 'When there has been provocation,
you ought to be ready to listen to terms of reconciliation, even after war has been made. This you
ought to do, to show that you are placable; such policy as this would doubtless be of the greatest benefit and advantage to you. Look to the case of Sujah
Dowlah. You had, in the course of a war with him,
driven him from his country; you had not left him
in possession of a foot of earth in the world. The
Mogul was his sovereign, and, by his authority, it
was in your power to dispose of the vizierate, and
of every office of state which Sujah Dowlah held
under the emperor: for he hated him mortally, and
was desirous of dispossessing him of everything.
What did you do? 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.
