Hastings was very
far from indifferent to the character of the persons lihe
dealt with.
far from indifferent to the character of the persons lihe
dealt with.
Edmund Burke
?
?
SPEECH IN OPENING.
-THIRD DAY.
59
stand recorded to posterity, that there never was a
bad mnan that had ability for good service. It is not in
the nature of such men; their minds are so distorted
to selfish purposes, to knavish, artificial, and crafty
means of accomplishing those selfish ends, that, if
put to alny good service, they are poor, dull, helpless.
Their natural faculties never have that direction. ;
they are paralytic on that side; the muscles, if I may
use tile expression, that ought to move it, are all dead.
They know nothing, but how to pursue selfish ends
by wicked and indirect means. No man ever knowingly employed a bad man on account of his abilities, but for evil ends. Mr. Hastings knew this man to be
bad; all the world knew him to be bad; and how did
he employ him? In such a manner as that he might
be controlled by others? A great deal might be said
for hlim, if this had been the case. There mighlt be
circumstances in which such a man mighllt be used
in a subordinate capacity. But who ever thought
of putting such a man virtually in possession of the
whole authority both of the Committee and the
Council-General, and of the revenues of the whole
country?
As soon as we find Gunga Govind Sing here, we
find him employed in the way in which he was meant
to be employed: tllat is to say, we find him employed
in taking corrupt bribes and corrupt presents for Mr.
Hastings. Thoughll the Committee were tools in his
hands, he was a tool in the hands of Mr. Hastings;
for lie had, as we shall prove, constant, uniform, and
close communications with Mr. hIastings. And, indeed, we may be saved a good deal of the trouble of proof; for Mr. Hastings hlimself, by acknowledging him
to be lhis bribe-broker, has pretty well autheinticated a
? ? ? ? 60 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
secret correspondence between them. For the next
great bribe as yet discovered to be taken by Mr. Hastings, about the time of his great operation of 1781,
was the bribe of 40,0001. , which we charge to have
been privately taken from one of two persons, but from
which is not yet ascertained, but paid to him through
this flagitious black agent of his iniquities, Gunga Govind Sing. The discovery is made by another agent
of his, called Mr. Larkins, one of his white bribe-confidants, and by him made Accountant-General to the Supreme Presidency. For this sum, so clandestinely
and corruptly taken, he received a bond to himself, on
his own account, as for money lent to the Company.
For, upon the frequent, pressing, tender solicitations
of the Court of Directors, always insinuated to him in
a very delicate manner, Mr. Hastings had written to
Mr. Larkins to find out, if he could, some of his own
bribes; and accordingly Mr. Larkins sent over an
account of various bribes, - an account which, even
before it comes directly in evidence before you, it will
be pleasant to your Lordships to read. In this account, under the head, "Dinagepore, No. 1," I find
" Duplicate copy of the particulars of debts, in which
the component parts of sundry sums received on the account of the Honorable Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies were received by Mr. Hastings and
paid to the Sub-Treasurer. " We find here, "Dinagepore pesheush, four lacs of rupees, cabooleat"' that is,
an agreement to pay four lacs of rupees, of which
three were received and one remained in balance at
the time this account was made out. All that we can
learn from this account, after all our researches, after
all the Court of Directors could do to squeeze it out
of him, is, that he received firom Dinagepore, at twelve
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 61
monthly payments, a sum of about three lacs of rupees, upon an engagement to pay him four; that is, he
received about 30,0001. out of 40,0001. which was to
be paid him: and we are told that he received this
sum through the hands of Gullga Govind Sing; and
that he was exceedingly angry with Gunga Govind
Sing for having kept back or defrauded him of the
sum of 10,0001. out of the 40,0001. To keep back
from him the fourth part of the whole bribe was very
reprehensible behavior in Gunga Govild Sing, certainly very unworthy of the great and high trust
which Mr. Hastings reposed in his integrity. My
Lords, this letter tells us Mr. Hastings was much irritated at Gunga Govind Sing. You will hereafter see
how Mr. Hastings behaves to persons against whom
he is irritated for their frauds upon him in their
joint concerns. In the mean time Gunga Govind
Sing rests with you as a person with whom Mr. Hastings is displeased on account of infidelity in the honorable trust of bribe undertaker and manager. My Lords, you are not very much enlightened,
I believe, by seeing these words, Dinagepore peshcush.
We find a province, we find a sum of money, we find
an agent, and we find a receiver. Tile province is
Dinagepore, the agent is Gunga Govind Sing, the sum
agreed on is 40,0001. , and the receiver of a part of
that is Mr. Hastings. This is all that can be seen.
Who it was that gave this sum of money to Mr. Hastings in this manner does no way appear; it is murder
by persons unknown: and this is the way in which
Mr. Hastings, after all the reiterated solicitations of
Parliament, of the Company, and the public, has left
the account of this bribe.
Let us, however, now see what was the state of
? ? ? ? 62 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
transactions at Dinagepore at that period. For, if
Mr. Hastings in the transactions at that period did
anything for that country, it must be presumed this
money was given for those acts; for Mr. Hastings confesses it was a sum of money corruptly received, but
honestly applied. It does not signify much, at first
view, from whom he received it; it is cnouglh to fix
upon him that he did receive it. But because the
consequences of his bribes make the main part of what
I intend to bring before your Lordships, I shall beg
to state to you, with your indulgence, what I have
been able to discover by a very close investigation
of th'e records respecting this business of Dinagepore.
Dinagepore, Rungpore, and Edrackpore make a
country, I believe, pretty nearly as large as all the
northern counties of Englland, Yorkshire included.
It is no mean country, and it has a prince of great,
ancient, illustrious descent at the head of it, called
the Rajah of Dinagepore.
I find, that, about the month of July, 1780, the Rajah of Dinagepore, after a long and lingering illness,
died, leaving an half-brother and an adopted son.
A litigation respecting the succession instantly arose
in the family; and this litigatigation was of course referred to, and was finally to be decided by, the Governor-General in Council, -- being the ultimate authority to which the decision of all these questions was to be referred. This cause came before Mr. Hastilgs,
and I find that he decided the question in favor of the
adopted son of the Rajah against his half-brother. I
find that upon that decision a rent was settled, and
a peshcush, or fine, paid. So that all that is in this
transaction is fair and above-board: there is a dispute
settled; there is a fine paid; there is a rent reserved
? ? ? ? SPEECH. IN OPENING. THIRD DAY. 63
to the Company; and the whole is a fair settlement.
But I find along with it very extraordinary acts; for
I find Mr. Hastings taking part in favor of the minor,
agreeably to the principles of others, and contrary to
his own. I find that he gave the guardianship of
this adopted son to the brother of the Ranny, as she
is called, or the widow of the deceased Rajah; and
though the hearing and settling of this business was
actually a part of the duty of his office, yet I find,
that, when the steward of the province of Dinagepore
was coming down to represent this case to Mr. Hastings, Mr. Hastings, on pretence that it would only tend to increase the family dissensions, so far from
hearing fully all the parties in this business, not only
sent'him back, but ordered him to be actually turned
out of his office. If, then, the 40,0001. be the same
with the money taken from the Rajah in 1780, to
which account it seems to refer, (for it was taken in
regular payments, beginning July, 1780, and ending
at the same period in 1781,) it was a sum of money
corruptly taken by him as a judge in a litigation of
inheritance between two great parties. So that lihe
received the sum of 40,0001. for a judgment; which,
whether that judgment was right or wrong, true or
false, he corruptly received.
This sum was received, as your Lordships will
observe, through Gunlga Govind Sing. He was the
broker of the agreement: lie was the person who
was to receive it by monthly instalhnents, and he was
to pay it to Mr. Hasting s. His son was in the office
of Register-General of the whole country, who had
in his custody all the papers, documents, and everytling which could tend to settle a litigation among the parties. If Mr. Hastings took this bribe from
? ? ? ? 64 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the Rajah of Dinagepore, he took a bribe from an
infant of five years old through the hands of the
Register. That is, the judge receives a bribe through
the llands of the keeper of the genealogies of the
family, the records and other documents, which must
have had the principal share in settling the question.
This history of this Dinagepore peshcush is the
public one received by the Company, and which is
entered upon the record,- but not the private, and
probably the true history of this corrupt transaction.
Very soon after this decision, very soon after this
peshcush was given, we find all the officers of the
young Rajah, who was supposed to have given it,
turned out of their employment by Gunga Govind
Sing, --by the very man who received the peshcush
for Mr. Hastings. We find them all turned out of
their employments; we find them all accused, without
any appearance or trace in the records of any proof
of embezzlement, of neglect in the education of the
minor Rajah, of the mismanagement of his affairs,
or the allotment of an unsuitable allowance. And
accordinlgly, to prevent the relations of his adopted
mother, to prevent those who might be supposed to
have an immediate interest in the family, from abusing the trust of his education and the trust of the management of his fortune, Gunga Govind Sing, (for
I trust your Lordships would not suffer me, if I had
a mind, to quote that tool of a thing, the Committee
of Revenue, bought at 62,0001. a year, -you would
not suffer me to name it, especially when you know
all the secret agency of bribes in the hand of Gunga
Govind Silng,) - this Gunga Govind Sing produces
soon after another character, to whom he consigns
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -- THIRD DAY. 65
the custody of the whole family and the whole province.
I will do Mr. Hastings the justice to say, that, if he
had known there was another man more accomplished
in all iniquity than Gunga Govind Sing, he would
not have given him the first place in his confidence.
But there is another next to him in the country,
whom you are to hear of by-anld-by, called Debi
Sing. This person, in the universal opinion of all
Bengal, is ranked next to Gunga Govind Sing; and,
what is very curious, they have been recorded by Mr.
Hastings as rivals in the same virtues.
Arcades ambo,
Et cantare pares, et respondere parati.
But Mr. Hastings has the happiest modes in the
world: these rivals were reconciled on this occasion,
and Gunga Govind Sing appoints Debi Sing, superseding all the other officers for no reason whatever upon record. And because, like champions, they
ought to go in pairs, there is an English gentleman,
one Mr. Goodlad, whom you will hear of presently,
appointed along with him. Absolute strangers to the
Rajah's family, the first act they do is to cut off a
thousand out of sixteen hundred a month from his
allowance. They state (though there was a great
number of dependants to maintain) that six hundred
would be enough to maintain him. There appears
in the account of these proceedings to be such a flutter about the care of the Rajah, and the management of his household: ill short, that there never was such
a tender guardianship as, always with the knowledge
of Mr. Hastings, is exercised over this poor Rajah,
who had just given (if he did give) 40,0001. for his
own inheritance, if it was his due, - for the inheriVOL. X. 5
? ? ? ? 66 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
tance of others, if it was not his due. One would
think he was entitled to some mercy; but, probably
because the money could not otherwise be supplied,
his establishment was cut down by Debi Sing and
Mr. Goodlad a thousand a month, which is just
twelve thousand a year.
When Mr. Hastings had appointed those persons,
to the guardianship who had an interest in the management of the Rajah's education and fortune, one
should have thought, before they were turned out, he
would at least have examined whether such a step
was proper or not. No: they were turned out without
any such examination; and whenl I come to inquire
into the proceedings of Gunga Govind Sing's Committee, I do not find that the new guardians have
brought to account one single shilling they received,
appointed as they were by that council newly made
to superintend all the affairs of the Rajah. There
iis not one word to be found of all account: Debi. Sing's honor, fidelity, and disinterestedness, and that
of Mr. Goodlad, is sufficient; and that is the way
in which the management and superintendence of
one of the greatest houses in that country is given
to the guardianship of strangers. And how is it. managed? We find Debi Sing in possession of the
Rajah's family, in possession of his affairs, in the
management of his whole zemindary; and in the
course of the next year he is to give him in farm the
whole of the revenues of these three provinces. Now
whether the peshcush was received for the ilomina-,tion of the Rajah as a bribe in judgment, or whetller
Mr. Hastings got it from Debi Sing as a bribe in office, for appointing him to the guardianship of a fam-. ly that did not belollg to him, and for the dominion
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 67
df three great and once wealthy provinces, - (which
is best'or worst I shall not pretend to determine,)
-you find the Rajah in his possession; you find his
education, his household, in his possession; the public revenues are in his possession; they are given
over to him.
If we look at the records, the letting of these provinces appears to have been carried on by the new
Committee of Revenue, as the course and order of
business required it should. But by the investigation into MIr. Hastings's money transactions, the insufficiency and fallacy of these records is manifest beyond a doubt. From this investigation it is discovered that it was in reality a bargain secretly struck
between the Governor-General and Debi Sing, and
that the Committee were only employed in the mere
official forms. From the time that AMr. Hastings
new-modelled the revenue system, nothing is seen
in its true shape. We now know, in spite of the
fallacy of these records, who the true grantor was:
it will not be amiss to go a little further in supplying
their defects, and to inquire a little concerning the
grantee. This makes it necessary for me to inform
your Lordships who Debi Sing is.
[Mr. Burke read the Committee's recommendation of
Debi Sing to the GCovernor-General and Council; but
the copy of the paper alluded to is wanting. ]
Here is a choice; here is Debi Sing presented for
his knowledge in business, his trust and fidelity, and
that lhe is a person against whom no objection can be
made. This is presented to Mr. Hastings, by him
recorded in the Council Books, and by him transmit
? ? ? ? 68 IMPEACHMIENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ted to the Court of Directors. Mr. IHastings has
since recorded, that lie knew this Debi Sing, (though
he here publicly authorizes the nomination of him
to all that great body of trusts,) - that lie knew him
to be a man completely capable of the most atrocious
iniquities that were ever charged upon man. Del)i
Sing is appointed to all those great trusts, through the
means of Gunga Govind Sing, from whom lie (Mr.
Hastings) llad received 30,0001. as a part of a bribe.
Now, thoughll it is a large field, though it is a thing
that I must confess I feel a reluctance almost in venturinlg to undertake, exhausted as I am, yet such is the maguitude of the affair, such the evil consequences that followed from a system of bribery, such the horrible consequences of superseding all the persons
in office in the country to give it into the hands of
Debi Sing, that, though it is the public opinlion, and
though nio man that hlas ever heard the name of Dobi
Sing does not know tllat lie was only second to Gunga Govind Sing, yet it is not to my purpose, unless 1 prove that Mr. Jiastings knlew his character at the
very time he accepts him as a person against whom
no exception could be made.
It is necessary to illform your Lordships who this
Debi Sing was, to whom these great trusts were committed, and those great provinces given.
It may be thought, and not unnaturally, that, in
this sort of corrupt and venal appointment to high
trust ald office, Mr. Hastings has no other consideration than the money he received. But whoever thinks so will be deceived. Mr.
Hastings was very
far from indifferent to the character of the persons lihe
dealt with. On the contrary, he made a most carefiul
selection; hlie had a very scrupulous regard to the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 69
aptitude of the men for the purposes for which he
employed them, and was much guided by his experience of their conduct in those offices which had been
sold to them upon former occasions.
Except Guiiga Govilld Sillg, (whomi, as justice required, Mr. Hastillgs distilnguislied by the highest
marks of his collfidence,) there was not a man in
Benigarl, perhaps not upon earth, a match for this Debi Siing. He was not an unknown sulbject, not one
rashly taken up as an experiment. He was a tried
nan; and if there had been olne more desperately and
abaudonedly corrupt, more wildly anld flagitiously oppressive, to be found unemployed ill India, large as. his offers were, Mr. Hastings would not have taken this money from Debi Silng.
Debi Sing was one of those who in the early stages
of tlle Eiglish power ill Benlgal attached hlimself to
those natives who then stood high ill office. He
courted Mallomed Reza Khan, a Mussulman of the
highliest rank, of the tribe of Koreish, whom I have
already mentioned, then at the head of the revenue,
and now at the head of the criminal justice of Bengal,
with all the supple assiduity of wvlhich those who possess no valuable art or useful taleint are commonly
complete nmasters. Possessing large ftnds, acquired
by his apprenticeshlip and novitiate in tlle lowest
frauds, lie was enabled to lelld to this then powerfiul. man, in the several emergencies of lhis variable fortune, very large sums of moniey. Tills great man had been brought downl by Mr. Hastings, under the
orders of the Court of Directors, uponi a cruel cllarge,
to Calcutta. He was accused of many crimes, alld
acquitted, 220,0001. in debt: that is to say, as soon
as he was a great debtor, lie ceased to be a great
criminal.
? ? ? ? 70 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Debi Sing obtained by his services no slight influence over Mallomed Reza Khaun, a person of a character very different from his. From that connection lie was appointed to the farm
of the revenuc, and inclusively of the government of
Purneallh, a province of very great extent, and then in
a state of no inconsiderable opulence. In this office
he exerted his talents with so much vigor and industry that in a very short time the province was half
depopulated and totally ruined.
The farm, on the expiration of his lease, was taken
by a set of adventurers in this kind of traffic fiom
Calcutta. But when the new undertakers came to
survey the object of their future operations and fitture profits, they were so shocked at the hideous and
squalid scenes of misery and desolation that glared
upon them in every quarter, that they instantly fled
out of the country, and thought themselves but too
happy to be permitted, on the payment of a penalty
of twelve thousand pounds, to be released from their
engagements.
To give in a few words as clear an idea as I am
able to give of the immense volume which might be
composed of the vexatious, violence, and rapine of
that tyrannical administration, the territorial revenue
of Purnealh, which had been let to Debi Sing at the
rate of 160,0001. sterling a year, was with difficulty
leased for a yearly sum under 90,0001. , and with all
rigor of exaction produced in effect little more than
60,0001. , falling greatly below one half of its original
estimate: so eltirely did tlle administration of Debi
Sing exhaust all the resources of the province; so totally did his baleful influence blast the very hope and
spring of all future revenue.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 71
The administration of Debi Sing was too notoriously destructive not to cause a general clamor. It was
impossible that it should be passed over without animadversion. Accordingly, in the month of September, 1772, Mr. Hastings, then at the head of the Committee of Circuit, removed him for maladministration; and he has since publicly declared on record
that he knew him to be capable of all the most horrid and atrocious crimes that can be imputed to man.
This brand, however, was only a mark for Mr.
Hastings to find him out hereafter in the crowd, to
identify him for his own, and to call him forth into
action, when his virtues should be sufficiently matured for the services in which he afterwards employed him, through his instruments, Mr. Anderson and Gunga Govind Sing. In the mean time he left
Debi Sing to the direction of his own good genius.
Debi Sing was stigmatized in the Company's records, his reputation was gone, but his funds were
safe. In the arrangement made by Mr. Hastings, in
the year 1773, by which Provincial Councils were
formed, Debi Sing became deputy-steward, or secretary, (soon in effect and influence principal steward,)
to the Provincial Council of Moorshedabad, the seat
of the old government, and the first province. of the
kingdom; and to his charge were committed various
extensive and populous provinces, yielding an annual
revenue of one hundred and twenty lacs of rupees,
or 1,500,0001. This division of Provincial Council
included Rungpore, Edrackpore, and others, where
he obtained such a knowledge of their resources as
subsequently to get possession of them.
Debi Sing found this administration composed mostly of young men, dissipated and fond of pleasure, as
? ? ? ? 72 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
is usual at that time of life, but desirous of reconciling those pleasures, which usually consume wealth,
with the means of making a great and speedy for.
tune, --at once eager candidates for opulence, and
perfect novices in all the roads that lead to it. Debi
Sing commiserated their youth and inexperience, and
took upon him to be their guide.
There is a revenue in that country, raised by a tax
more productive than laudable. It is an imposition
on public prostitutes, a duty upon the societies of dancing-girls, --those seminaries from which Mr. Hastings has selected an administrator of justice and governor of kingdoms. Debi Sing thought it expedient to farm this tax, - not only because he neglected no
sort of gain, but because he regarded it as no contemptible means of power and influence. Accordingly, in plain terms, he opened a legal brothel, out
of which he carefully reserved (you may be sure) the
very flower of his collection for the entertainment of
his young superiors: ladies recommended not only by
personal merit, but, according to the Eastern custom,
by sweet and enticing names which he had given
them. For, if they were to be translated, they would
sound, -- Riches of my Life, Wealth of my Soul,
Treasure of Perfection, Diamond of Splendor, Pearl
of Price, Ruby of Pure Blood, and other metaphorical descriptions, that, calling up dissonant passions
to enhance the value of the general harmony, heightened the attractions of love with the allurements of
avarice. A moving seraglio of these ladies always attended his progress, and were always brought to the
splendid and multiplied entertainments with which
he regaled his Council. In these festivities, whilst
his guests were engaged with the seductions of
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 73
beauty, the intoxications of the most delicious wines
of France, and the voluptuous vapor of perfumed
India smoke, uniting the vivid satisfactions of Europe with the torpid blandishments of Asia, the great magician himself, chaste in the midst of dissoluteness, sober in the centre of debauch, vigilant in the lap of negligence and oblivion, attended with an eagle's eye the moment for thrusting in business, and at such times was able to carry without difficulty
points of shameful enormity, which at other hours
he would not so much as have dared to mention to
his employers, young men rather careless and inexperienced than intentionally corrupt. Not satisfied with being pander to their pleasures, he anticipated
and was purveyor to their wants, and supplied them
with a constant command of money; and by these
means he reigned with an uncontrolled dominion
over the province and over its governors.
For you are to understand that in many things we
are very much misinformed with regard to the true
seat of power in India. Whilst we were proudly
calling India a British government, it was in substance a government of the lowest, basest, and most flagitious of the native rabble, to whom the far greater part of the English who figured in employment and station had from their earliest youth been slaves
and instruments. Banians had anticipated the period
of their power in premature advances of money, and
hlave ever after obtained the entire dominion over
their nominal masters.
By these various ways and means Debi Sing contrived to add job to job, employment to employment, and to hold, besides the farms of two very considerable districts, various trusts in the revenue, - some
? ? ? ? 74 IMIPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
times openly appearing, sometimes hid two or three
deep in false names, emerging into light or shrouding
himself ill darkness, as successful or defeated crimes
rendered him bold or cautious. Every one of these
trusts was marked with its own fiaud; and for one
of those frauds, committed by him in another name,
by which he became deeply in balance to the revenue,
he was publicly whipped by proxy.
All this while Mr. Hastings kept his eye upon him,
and attended to his progress. But as lie rose in Mr.
Hastings's opinion, he fell in that of his immediate
employers. By degrees, as reason prevailed, and the
fumes of pleasure evaporated, the Provincial Council
emerged from their first dependence, and, finding
nothing but infamy attending the councils and services of such a man, resolved to dismiss him. In
this strait and crisis of his power the artist turned
himself into all shapes. He offered great sums individually, he offered them collectively, and at last put a carte blanchle on the table,- all to no purpose.
"- What are you? - stones? Have I not men to deal
with? Will flesh and blood refuse me? "
When Debi' Sing found that the Council had entirely escaped, and were proof against his offers, he
left them with a sullen and menacing silence. He
applied where he had good intelligence that these
offers would be well received, and that he should at
once be revenged of the Council, and obtain all the
ends which through them lie had sought in vain.
Without hesitation or scruple Mr. Hastings sold a
set of innocent officers, -- sold his fellow-servants of
the Company, entitled by every duty to his protection, - sold English subjects, recommended by every tie of national sympathy, - sold the honor of the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 75
British government itself,- without charge, without
complaint, without allegation of crime in conduct,
or of insufficiency in talents: he sold them to thle
most known and abandoned character whiclh thle rank
servitude of that clime produces. For hIim he entirely broke and quashed the Council of Moorshllcdabad, which had been the settled government for twelve
years, (a long period in the changeful history of India,) - at a time, too, when it had acquired a great degree of consistency, an official experience, a knowledge and habit of business, and was makillg full amends for early errors.
For now Mr. Hastings, having buried Colonel Monson and General Clavering, and having shaken off Mr. Francis, who retired half dead from office, began at
length to respire; he found elbow-room once more
to display his genuine nature and disposition, and to
make amends in a riot and debauch of peculation for
the forced abstinence to which he was reduced during
the usurped dominion of honor and integrity.
It was not enough that the English were thus sacrificed to the revenge of Debi Sing. It was necessary
to deliver over the natives to his avarice. By the intervcntion of bribe-brokerage lie united the two great rivals in iniquity, who before, from an emulatioll of
crimes, were enemies to each otlier, - Gunga Govind
Sing and Debi Sing. He negotiated the bribe and
the farm of the latter through the former; and Debi
Sing was invested in farm for two years with tile three
provinces of Dinagepore, Edrackpore, and Rungpore,
-- territories making together a tract of land superior
in dimensions to the northern counties of England,
Yorkshire included.
To prevent anything which might prove an obstacle
? ? ? ? 76 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
on the full swing of his genius, he removed all the
restraints which had been framed to give an ostensible
credit, to give some show of official order, to the plans
of revenue administration framed from time to time
in Bengal. An officer, called a dewan, had been established in the provinces, expressly as a check on the
person who should act as farmer-general. This office
he conferred along with that of farmer-general on
Debi Sing, in order that Debi might become an effectual check upon Sing; and thus these provinces,
without inspection, without control, without law, and
without magistrates, were delivered over by Mr. Hastings, bound hand and foot, to the discretion of the
man whom he had before recorded as the destroyer
of Purneah, and capable of every the most atrocious
wickedness that could be imputed to man.
Fatally for the natives of India, every wild project
and every corrupt sale of Mr. Hastings, and those
whose example he followed, is covered with a pretended increase of revenue to the Company. Mr.
Hastings would not pocket his bribe of 40,0001. for
himself without letting the Company in as a sharer
and accomplice. For the province of Rulngpore, the
object to which I mean in this instance to confine
your attention, 7,0001. a year was added. But lest
this avowed increase of rent should seem to lead to
oppression, great and religious care was taken in the
covenant so stipulated with Debi Sing, that this increase should not arise from any additional assessment whatsoever on the colintry, but solely firom improvements in the cultivation, and the encouragement to be given to the landholder and husbandman.
Buet as Mr. Hastings's bribe, of a far greater sum, was
not guarded by any such provision, it was left to the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 77
discretion of the donor in what manner he was to
indemnify himself for it.
Debi Sing fixed the seat of his authority at Dinagepore, where, as soon as lie arrived, lie did not lose a moment in doing his duty. If Mr. Hastings can forget 1his covenant, you may easily believe that Debi
Sing had not a more correct memory; and accordingly, as soon as he came into the province, lie instantly broke every covenant which he had entered into as a
restraint on his avarice, rapacity, and tyranny, which,
from the highest of the nobility and gentry to the
lowest husbandmen, were afterwards exercised, with
a stern and unrelenting impartiality, upon the whole
people. For, notwithstanding the province before
Debi Sing's lease was, from various causes, in a state
of declension, and in balance for the revenue of the
preceding yetr, at his very first entrance into office
he forced from the zemindars or landed gentry an
enormous increase of their tribute. They refused
compliance. On this refusal he threw the whole body
of zemindars into prison, and thus in bonds and fetters
compelled them to sigu their own ruin by an increase
of rent which they knew they could never realize.
Having thus gotten them under, he added exaction
to exaction, so that every day announced some new
and varied demand, until, exhausted by these oppressions, they were brought to the extremity to which lihe meant to drive them, the sale of their lands.
The lands held by the zemindars of that country are
of many descriptions. The first and most general are
those that pay revenue; the others are of the nature
of demesne lands, which are free, and pay no rent to
government. The latter are for the immediate support of the zemindars and their families,- as from
? ? ? ? 7I IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the former they derive their influence, authority, and
the means of upholding their dignity. The lands of
the former description were immediately attaclled,
sequestered, and sold for the most trifling consideration. The rent-free lands, the best and richest lanlds of tlhe whole province, were sold, - sold for - what
do your Lordships think? They were sold for less
than one year's purchase, - at less than one year's
purchase, at the most underrated value; so that the
fee-simple of an English acre of rent-free land sold at
the rate of seven or eight shillings. Such a sale, on
such terms, strongly indicated the purchaser. And
how did it turn out in fact? The purchaser was the
very agent and instrument of Mr. Hastings, Debi
Sing himself. He made the exaction; lie forced the
sale; lie reduced the rate; and lie became the purchaser at less than one year's purchase,'and paid with the very money which he had extorted from the miserable vendors.
When lie had thus sold and separated thlese lands,
he united the whole body of them, amounting to about
7,0001. sterling a year (but, according to the rate of
money and living in that country, equivalent to a rental in Enllland of 30,0001. a year); and then having raised in thle new letting, as on the sale lie had fraudulently reduced those lands, lie reserved them as an estate for himself, or to whomsoever resembling himself Mr. Hastings should order them to be disposed. The lands, thus sold for next to nothing, left of
course the late landholder still in debt. The failure
of finid, the rigorous exaction of debt, and the miultiplication of new arbitrary taxes next carried off the goods.
There is a circumstance attending this business
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 79
which will call for your Lordships' pity. Most of the
landholders or zemindars in that country happened
at that time to be women. Tile sex thlere is in a state
certainly resembling imprisonment, but guarded as
a sacred treasure with all possible attention and respect. None of the coarse male hands of the law
can reach them; but they have a custom, very cautiously used in all good governments there, of employing female bailiffs or sergeants in the execution of the law, where that sex is concerned. Guards, therefore,
surrounded the houses; and then female sergeants
and bailiffs entered into the habitations of these female
zemindars, and held their goods and persons in execution, - nothing being left but what was daily threatened, their life and honor. The landholders, even women of eminent rank and condition, (for such the
greatest part of the zeminldars then were,) fled from
the ancient seats of their ancestors, and left their
miserable followers and servants, who in that country
are infinitely numerous, without protection and without bread. The monthly instalment of Mr. Hastings's
bribe was become due, and his rapacity must be fed
from the vitals of the people.
The zemindars, before their own flight, had the
mortification to see all the lands assigned to charitable
and to religious uses, the lhumane and pious foundations of themselves and their ancestors, made to support infirmity and decrepitude, to give feet to the lame and eyes to the blind, and to effect which they
had deprived themselves of manly of the enijoyments
of life, cruelly sequestered and sold at the sanme market of violence and fraud where their demesne possessions and their goods had been before made away with. Even the lands and funds set aside for their
? ? ? ? 80 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
funeral ceremonies, in which they hoped to find an
end to their miseries, and some indemnity of imagination for all the substantial sufferings of their lives, -- even the very feeble consolations of death, were, by
the same rigid hand of tyranny, -- a tyranny more
consuming than the funeral pile, more greedy than
the grave, and more inexorable than death itself, --
seized and taken to make good the honor of corruption
and the faith of bribery pledged to Mr. Hastings or
his instruments.
Thus it fared with the better and middling orders
of the people. Were the lower, the more industrious,
spared? Alas! as their situation was far more helpless, their oppression was infinitely more sore and grievous, the exactions yet more excessive, the demand
yet more vexatious, more capricious, more arbitrary.
To afford your Lordships some idea of the condition
of those who were served up to satisfy Mr. Hastings's
hunger and thirst for bribes, I shall read it to you in
the very words of the representative tyrant himself,
Rajah Debi Sing. Debi Sing, when he was charged
with a fraudulent sale of the ornaments of gold and
silver of women, who, according to the modes of that
country, had starved themselves to decorate their unhappy persons, argued on the improbability of this part of the chllarge in these very words.
"It is notorious,' says he, " that poverty generally
prevails amongst the husbandmen of Rungpore, more
perhaps than in any other parts of the country.
stand recorded to posterity, that there never was a
bad mnan that had ability for good service. It is not in
the nature of such men; their minds are so distorted
to selfish purposes, to knavish, artificial, and crafty
means of accomplishing those selfish ends, that, if
put to alny good service, they are poor, dull, helpless.
Their natural faculties never have that direction. ;
they are paralytic on that side; the muscles, if I may
use tile expression, that ought to move it, are all dead.
They know nothing, but how to pursue selfish ends
by wicked and indirect means. No man ever knowingly employed a bad man on account of his abilities, but for evil ends. Mr. Hastings knew this man to be
bad; all the world knew him to be bad; and how did
he employ him? In such a manner as that he might
be controlled by others? A great deal might be said
for hlim, if this had been the case. There mighlt be
circumstances in which such a man mighllt be used
in a subordinate capacity. But who ever thought
of putting such a man virtually in possession of the
whole authority both of the Committee and the
Council-General, and of the revenues of the whole
country?
As soon as we find Gunga Govind Sing here, we
find him employed in the way in which he was meant
to be employed: tllat is to say, we find him employed
in taking corrupt bribes and corrupt presents for Mr.
Hastings. Thoughll the Committee were tools in his
hands, he was a tool in the hands of Mr. Hastings;
for lie had, as we shall prove, constant, uniform, and
close communications with Mr. hIastings. And, indeed, we may be saved a good deal of the trouble of proof; for Mr. Hastings hlimself, by acknowledging him
to be lhis bribe-broker, has pretty well autheinticated a
? ? ? ? 60 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
secret correspondence between them. For the next
great bribe as yet discovered to be taken by Mr. Hastings, about the time of his great operation of 1781,
was the bribe of 40,0001. , which we charge to have
been privately taken from one of two persons, but from
which is not yet ascertained, but paid to him through
this flagitious black agent of his iniquities, Gunga Govind Sing. The discovery is made by another agent
of his, called Mr. Larkins, one of his white bribe-confidants, and by him made Accountant-General to the Supreme Presidency. For this sum, so clandestinely
and corruptly taken, he received a bond to himself, on
his own account, as for money lent to the Company.
For, upon the frequent, pressing, tender solicitations
of the Court of Directors, always insinuated to him in
a very delicate manner, Mr. Hastings had written to
Mr. Larkins to find out, if he could, some of his own
bribes; and accordingly Mr. Larkins sent over an
account of various bribes, - an account which, even
before it comes directly in evidence before you, it will
be pleasant to your Lordships to read. In this account, under the head, "Dinagepore, No. 1," I find
" Duplicate copy of the particulars of debts, in which
the component parts of sundry sums received on the account of the Honorable Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies were received by Mr. Hastings and
paid to the Sub-Treasurer. " We find here, "Dinagepore pesheush, four lacs of rupees, cabooleat"' that is,
an agreement to pay four lacs of rupees, of which
three were received and one remained in balance at
the time this account was made out. All that we can
learn from this account, after all our researches, after
all the Court of Directors could do to squeeze it out
of him, is, that he received firom Dinagepore, at twelve
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 61
monthly payments, a sum of about three lacs of rupees, upon an engagement to pay him four; that is, he
received about 30,0001. out of 40,0001. which was to
be paid him: and we are told that he received this
sum through the hands of Gullga Govind Sing; and
that he was exceedingly angry with Gunga Govind
Sing for having kept back or defrauded him of the
sum of 10,0001. out of the 40,0001. To keep back
from him the fourth part of the whole bribe was very
reprehensible behavior in Gunga Govild Sing, certainly very unworthy of the great and high trust
which Mr. Hastings reposed in his integrity. My
Lords, this letter tells us Mr. Hastings was much irritated at Gunga Govind Sing. You will hereafter see
how Mr. Hastings behaves to persons against whom
he is irritated for their frauds upon him in their
joint concerns. In the mean time Gunga Govind
Sing rests with you as a person with whom Mr. Hastings is displeased on account of infidelity in the honorable trust of bribe undertaker and manager. My Lords, you are not very much enlightened,
I believe, by seeing these words, Dinagepore peshcush.
We find a province, we find a sum of money, we find
an agent, and we find a receiver. Tile province is
Dinagepore, the agent is Gunga Govind Sing, the sum
agreed on is 40,0001. , and the receiver of a part of
that is Mr. Hastings. This is all that can be seen.
Who it was that gave this sum of money to Mr. Hastings in this manner does no way appear; it is murder
by persons unknown: and this is the way in which
Mr. Hastings, after all the reiterated solicitations of
Parliament, of the Company, and the public, has left
the account of this bribe.
Let us, however, now see what was the state of
? ? ? ? 62 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
transactions at Dinagepore at that period. For, if
Mr. Hastings in the transactions at that period did
anything for that country, it must be presumed this
money was given for those acts; for Mr. Hastings confesses it was a sum of money corruptly received, but
honestly applied. It does not signify much, at first
view, from whom he received it; it is cnouglh to fix
upon him that he did receive it. But because the
consequences of his bribes make the main part of what
I intend to bring before your Lordships, I shall beg
to state to you, with your indulgence, what I have
been able to discover by a very close investigation
of th'e records respecting this business of Dinagepore.
Dinagepore, Rungpore, and Edrackpore make a
country, I believe, pretty nearly as large as all the
northern counties of Englland, Yorkshire included.
It is no mean country, and it has a prince of great,
ancient, illustrious descent at the head of it, called
the Rajah of Dinagepore.
I find, that, about the month of July, 1780, the Rajah of Dinagepore, after a long and lingering illness,
died, leaving an half-brother and an adopted son.
A litigation respecting the succession instantly arose
in the family; and this litigatigation was of course referred to, and was finally to be decided by, the Governor-General in Council, -- being the ultimate authority to which the decision of all these questions was to be referred. This cause came before Mr. Hastilgs,
and I find that he decided the question in favor of the
adopted son of the Rajah against his half-brother. I
find that upon that decision a rent was settled, and
a peshcush, or fine, paid. So that all that is in this
transaction is fair and above-board: there is a dispute
settled; there is a fine paid; there is a rent reserved
? ? ? ? SPEECH. IN OPENING. THIRD DAY. 63
to the Company; and the whole is a fair settlement.
But I find along with it very extraordinary acts; for
I find Mr. Hastings taking part in favor of the minor,
agreeably to the principles of others, and contrary to
his own. I find that he gave the guardianship of
this adopted son to the brother of the Ranny, as she
is called, or the widow of the deceased Rajah; and
though the hearing and settling of this business was
actually a part of the duty of his office, yet I find,
that, when the steward of the province of Dinagepore
was coming down to represent this case to Mr. Hastings, Mr. Hastings, on pretence that it would only tend to increase the family dissensions, so far from
hearing fully all the parties in this business, not only
sent'him back, but ordered him to be actually turned
out of his office. If, then, the 40,0001. be the same
with the money taken from the Rajah in 1780, to
which account it seems to refer, (for it was taken in
regular payments, beginning July, 1780, and ending
at the same period in 1781,) it was a sum of money
corruptly taken by him as a judge in a litigation of
inheritance between two great parties. So that lihe
received the sum of 40,0001. for a judgment; which,
whether that judgment was right or wrong, true or
false, he corruptly received.
This sum was received, as your Lordships will
observe, through Gunlga Govind Sing. He was the
broker of the agreement: lie was the person who
was to receive it by monthly instalhnents, and he was
to pay it to Mr. Hasting s. His son was in the office
of Register-General of the whole country, who had
in his custody all the papers, documents, and everytling which could tend to settle a litigation among the parties. If Mr. Hastings took this bribe from
? ? ? ? 64 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the Rajah of Dinagepore, he took a bribe from an
infant of five years old through the hands of the
Register. That is, the judge receives a bribe through
the llands of the keeper of the genealogies of the
family, the records and other documents, which must
have had the principal share in settling the question.
This history of this Dinagepore peshcush is the
public one received by the Company, and which is
entered upon the record,- but not the private, and
probably the true history of this corrupt transaction.
Very soon after this decision, very soon after this
peshcush was given, we find all the officers of the
young Rajah, who was supposed to have given it,
turned out of their employment by Gunga Govind
Sing, --by the very man who received the peshcush
for Mr. Hastings. We find them all turned out of
their employments; we find them all accused, without
any appearance or trace in the records of any proof
of embezzlement, of neglect in the education of the
minor Rajah, of the mismanagement of his affairs,
or the allotment of an unsuitable allowance. And
accordinlgly, to prevent the relations of his adopted
mother, to prevent those who might be supposed to
have an immediate interest in the family, from abusing the trust of his education and the trust of the management of his fortune, Gunga Govind Sing, (for
I trust your Lordships would not suffer me, if I had
a mind, to quote that tool of a thing, the Committee
of Revenue, bought at 62,0001. a year, -you would
not suffer me to name it, especially when you know
all the secret agency of bribes in the hand of Gunga
Govind Silng,) - this Gunga Govind Sing produces
soon after another character, to whom he consigns
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -- THIRD DAY. 65
the custody of the whole family and the whole province.
I will do Mr. Hastings the justice to say, that, if he
had known there was another man more accomplished
in all iniquity than Gunga Govind Sing, he would
not have given him the first place in his confidence.
But there is another next to him in the country,
whom you are to hear of by-anld-by, called Debi
Sing. This person, in the universal opinion of all
Bengal, is ranked next to Gunga Govind Sing; and,
what is very curious, they have been recorded by Mr.
Hastings as rivals in the same virtues.
Arcades ambo,
Et cantare pares, et respondere parati.
But Mr. Hastings has the happiest modes in the
world: these rivals were reconciled on this occasion,
and Gunga Govind Sing appoints Debi Sing, superseding all the other officers for no reason whatever upon record. And because, like champions, they
ought to go in pairs, there is an English gentleman,
one Mr. Goodlad, whom you will hear of presently,
appointed along with him. Absolute strangers to the
Rajah's family, the first act they do is to cut off a
thousand out of sixteen hundred a month from his
allowance. They state (though there was a great
number of dependants to maintain) that six hundred
would be enough to maintain him. There appears
in the account of these proceedings to be such a flutter about the care of the Rajah, and the management of his household: ill short, that there never was such
a tender guardianship as, always with the knowledge
of Mr. Hastings, is exercised over this poor Rajah,
who had just given (if he did give) 40,0001. for his
own inheritance, if it was his due, - for the inheriVOL. X. 5
? ? ? ? 66 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
tance of others, if it was not his due. One would
think he was entitled to some mercy; but, probably
because the money could not otherwise be supplied,
his establishment was cut down by Debi Sing and
Mr. Goodlad a thousand a month, which is just
twelve thousand a year.
When Mr. Hastings had appointed those persons,
to the guardianship who had an interest in the management of the Rajah's education and fortune, one
should have thought, before they were turned out, he
would at least have examined whether such a step
was proper or not. No: they were turned out without
any such examination; and whenl I come to inquire
into the proceedings of Gunga Govind Sing's Committee, I do not find that the new guardians have
brought to account one single shilling they received,
appointed as they were by that council newly made
to superintend all the affairs of the Rajah. There
iis not one word to be found of all account: Debi. Sing's honor, fidelity, and disinterestedness, and that
of Mr. Goodlad, is sufficient; and that is the way
in which the management and superintendence of
one of the greatest houses in that country is given
to the guardianship of strangers. And how is it. managed? We find Debi Sing in possession of the
Rajah's family, in possession of his affairs, in the
management of his whole zemindary; and in the
course of the next year he is to give him in farm the
whole of the revenues of these three provinces. Now
whether the peshcush was received for the ilomina-,tion of the Rajah as a bribe in judgment, or whetller
Mr. Hastings got it from Debi Sing as a bribe in office, for appointing him to the guardianship of a fam-. ly that did not belollg to him, and for the dominion
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 67
df three great and once wealthy provinces, - (which
is best'or worst I shall not pretend to determine,)
-you find the Rajah in his possession; you find his
education, his household, in his possession; the public revenues are in his possession; they are given
over to him.
If we look at the records, the letting of these provinces appears to have been carried on by the new
Committee of Revenue, as the course and order of
business required it should. But by the investigation into MIr. Hastings's money transactions, the insufficiency and fallacy of these records is manifest beyond a doubt. From this investigation it is discovered that it was in reality a bargain secretly struck
between the Governor-General and Debi Sing, and
that the Committee were only employed in the mere
official forms. From the time that AMr. Hastings
new-modelled the revenue system, nothing is seen
in its true shape. We now know, in spite of the
fallacy of these records, who the true grantor was:
it will not be amiss to go a little further in supplying
their defects, and to inquire a little concerning the
grantee. This makes it necessary for me to inform
your Lordships who Debi Sing is.
[Mr. Burke read the Committee's recommendation of
Debi Sing to the GCovernor-General and Council; but
the copy of the paper alluded to is wanting. ]
Here is a choice; here is Debi Sing presented for
his knowledge in business, his trust and fidelity, and
that lhe is a person against whom no objection can be
made. This is presented to Mr. Hastings, by him
recorded in the Council Books, and by him transmit
? ? ? ? 68 IMPEACHMIENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ted to the Court of Directors. Mr. IHastings has
since recorded, that lie knew this Debi Sing, (though
he here publicly authorizes the nomination of him
to all that great body of trusts,) - that lie knew him
to be a man completely capable of the most atrocious
iniquities that were ever charged upon man. Del)i
Sing is appointed to all those great trusts, through the
means of Gunga Govind Sing, from whom lie (Mr.
Hastings) llad received 30,0001. as a part of a bribe.
Now, thoughll it is a large field, though it is a thing
that I must confess I feel a reluctance almost in venturinlg to undertake, exhausted as I am, yet such is the maguitude of the affair, such the evil consequences that followed from a system of bribery, such the horrible consequences of superseding all the persons
in office in the country to give it into the hands of
Debi Sing, that, though it is the public opinlion, and
though nio man that hlas ever heard the name of Dobi
Sing does not know tllat lie was only second to Gunga Govind Sing, yet it is not to my purpose, unless 1 prove that Mr. Jiastings knlew his character at the
very time he accepts him as a person against whom
no exception could be made.
It is necessary to illform your Lordships who this
Debi Sing was, to whom these great trusts were committed, and those great provinces given.
It may be thought, and not unnaturally, that, in
this sort of corrupt and venal appointment to high
trust ald office, Mr. Hastings has no other consideration than the money he received. But whoever thinks so will be deceived. Mr.
Hastings was very
far from indifferent to the character of the persons lihe
dealt with. On the contrary, he made a most carefiul
selection; hlie had a very scrupulous regard to the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 69
aptitude of the men for the purposes for which he
employed them, and was much guided by his experience of their conduct in those offices which had been
sold to them upon former occasions.
Except Guiiga Govilld Sillg, (whomi, as justice required, Mr. Hastillgs distilnguislied by the highest
marks of his collfidence,) there was not a man in
Benigarl, perhaps not upon earth, a match for this Debi Siing. He was not an unknown sulbject, not one
rashly taken up as an experiment. He was a tried
nan; and if there had been olne more desperately and
abaudonedly corrupt, more wildly anld flagitiously oppressive, to be found unemployed ill India, large as. his offers were, Mr. Hastings would not have taken this money from Debi Silng.
Debi Sing was one of those who in the early stages
of tlle Eiglish power ill Benlgal attached hlimself to
those natives who then stood high ill office. He
courted Mallomed Reza Khan, a Mussulman of the
highliest rank, of the tribe of Koreish, whom I have
already mentioned, then at the head of the revenue,
and now at the head of the criminal justice of Bengal,
with all the supple assiduity of wvlhich those who possess no valuable art or useful taleint are commonly
complete nmasters. Possessing large ftnds, acquired
by his apprenticeshlip and novitiate in tlle lowest
frauds, lie was enabled to lelld to this then powerfiul. man, in the several emergencies of lhis variable fortune, very large sums of moniey. Tills great man had been brought downl by Mr. Hastings, under the
orders of the Court of Directors, uponi a cruel cllarge,
to Calcutta. He was accused of many crimes, alld
acquitted, 220,0001. in debt: that is to say, as soon
as he was a great debtor, lie ceased to be a great
criminal.
? ? ? ? 70 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Debi Sing obtained by his services no slight influence over Mallomed Reza Khaun, a person of a character very different from his. From that connection lie was appointed to the farm
of the revenuc, and inclusively of the government of
Purneallh, a province of very great extent, and then in
a state of no inconsiderable opulence. In this office
he exerted his talents with so much vigor and industry that in a very short time the province was half
depopulated and totally ruined.
The farm, on the expiration of his lease, was taken
by a set of adventurers in this kind of traffic fiom
Calcutta. But when the new undertakers came to
survey the object of their future operations and fitture profits, they were so shocked at the hideous and
squalid scenes of misery and desolation that glared
upon them in every quarter, that they instantly fled
out of the country, and thought themselves but too
happy to be permitted, on the payment of a penalty
of twelve thousand pounds, to be released from their
engagements.
To give in a few words as clear an idea as I am
able to give of the immense volume which might be
composed of the vexatious, violence, and rapine of
that tyrannical administration, the territorial revenue
of Purnealh, which had been let to Debi Sing at the
rate of 160,0001. sterling a year, was with difficulty
leased for a yearly sum under 90,0001. , and with all
rigor of exaction produced in effect little more than
60,0001. , falling greatly below one half of its original
estimate: so eltirely did tlle administration of Debi
Sing exhaust all the resources of the province; so totally did his baleful influence blast the very hope and
spring of all future revenue.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 71
The administration of Debi Sing was too notoriously destructive not to cause a general clamor. It was
impossible that it should be passed over without animadversion. Accordingly, in the month of September, 1772, Mr. Hastings, then at the head of the Committee of Circuit, removed him for maladministration; and he has since publicly declared on record
that he knew him to be capable of all the most horrid and atrocious crimes that can be imputed to man.
This brand, however, was only a mark for Mr.
Hastings to find him out hereafter in the crowd, to
identify him for his own, and to call him forth into
action, when his virtues should be sufficiently matured for the services in which he afterwards employed him, through his instruments, Mr. Anderson and Gunga Govind Sing. In the mean time he left
Debi Sing to the direction of his own good genius.
Debi Sing was stigmatized in the Company's records, his reputation was gone, but his funds were
safe. In the arrangement made by Mr. Hastings, in
the year 1773, by which Provincial Councils were
formed, Debi Sing became deputy-steward, or secretary, (soon in effect and influence principal steward,)
to the Provincial Council of Moorshedabad, the seat
of the old government, and the first province. of the
kingdom; and to his charge were committed various
extensive and populous provinces, yielding an annual
revenue of one hundred and twenty lacs of rupees,
or 1,500,0001. This division of Provincial Council
included Rungpore, Edrackpore, and others, where
he obtained such a knowledge of their resources as
subsequently to get possession of them.
Debi Sing found this administration composed mostly of young men, dissipated and fond of pleasure, as
? ? ? ? 72 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
is usual at that time of life, but desirous of reconciling those pleasures, which usually consume wealth,
with the means of making a great and speedy for.
tune, --at once eager candidates for opulence, and
perfect novices in all the roads that lead to it. Debi
Sing commiserated their youth and inexperience, and
took upon him to be their guide.
There is a revenue in that country, raised by a tax
more productive than laudable. It is an imposition
on public prostitutes, a duty upon the societies of dancing-girls, --those seminaries from which Mr. Hastings has selected an administrator of justice and governor of kingdoms. Debi Sing thought it expedient to farm this tax, - not only because he neglected no
sort of gain, but because he regarded it as no contemptible means of power and influence. Accordingly, in plain terms, he opened a legal brothel, out
of which he carefully reserved (you may be sure) the
very flower of his collection for the entertainment of
his young superiors: ladies recommended not only by
personal merit, but, according to the Eastern custom,
by sweet and enticing names which he had given
them. For, if they were to be translated, they would
sound, -- Riches of my Life, Wealth of my Soul,
Treasure of Perfection, Diamond of Splendor, Pearl
of Price, Ruby of Pure Blood, and other metaphorical descriptions, that, calling up dissonant passions
to enhance the value of the general harmony, heightened the attractions of love with the allurements of
avarice. A moving seraglio of these ladies always attended his progress, and were always brought to the
splendid and multiplied entertainments with which
he regaled his Council. In these festivities, whilst
his guests were engaged with the seductions of
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -THIRD DAY. 73
beauty, the intoxications of the most delicious wines
of France, and the voluptuous vapor of perfumed
India smoke, uniting the vivid satisfactions of Europe with the torpid blandishments of Asia, the great magician himself, chaste in the midst of dissoluteness, sober in the centre of debauch, vigilant in the lap of negligence and oblivion, attended with an eagle's eye the moment for thrusting in business, and at such times was able to carry without difficulty
points of shameful enormity, which at other hours
he would not so much as have dared to mention to
his employers, young men rather careless and inexperienced than intentionally corrupt. Not satisfied with being pander to their pleasures, he anticipated
and was purveyor to their wants, and supplied them
with a constant command of money; and by these
means he reigned with an uncontrolled dominion
over the province and over its governors.
For you are to understand that in many things we
are very much misinformed with regard to the true
seat of power in India. Whilst we were proudly
calling India a British government, it was in substance a government of the lowest, basest, and most flagitious of the native rabble, to whom the far greater part of the English who figured in employment and station had from their earliest youth been slaves
and instruments. Banians had anticipated the period
of their power in premature advances of money, and
hlave ever after obtained the entire dominion over
their nominal masters.
By these various ways and means Debi Sing contrived to add job to job, employment to employment, and to hold, besides the farms of two very considerable districts, various trusts in the revenue, - some
? ? ? ? 74 IMIPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
times openly appearing, sometimes hid two or three
deep in false names, emerging into light or shrouding
himself ill darkness, as successful or defeated crimes
rendered him bold or cautious. Every one of these
trusts was marked with its own fiaud; and for one
of those frauds, committed by him in another name,
by which he became deeply in balance to the revenue,
he was publicly whipped by proxy.
All this while Mr. Hastings kept his eye upon him,
and attended to his progress. But as lie rose in Mr.
Hastings's opinion, he fell in that of his immediate
employers. By degrees, as reason prevailed, and the
fumes of pleasure evaporated, the Provincial Council
emerged from their first dependence, and, finding
nothing but infamy attending the councils and services of such a man, resolved to dismiss him. In
this strait and crisis of his power the artist turned
himself into all shapes. He offered great sums individually, he offered them collectively, and at last put a carte blanchle on the table,- all to no purpose.
"- What are you? - stones? Have I not men to deal
with? Will flesh and blood refuse me? "
When Debi' Sing found that the Council had entirely escaped, and were proof against his offers, he
left them with a sullen and menacing silence. He
applied where he had good intelligence that these
offers would be well received, and that he should at
once be revenged of the Council, and obtain all the
ends which through them lie had sought in vain.
Without hesitation or scruple Mr. Hastings sold a
set of innocent officers, -- sold his fellow-servants of
the Company, entitled by every duty to his protection, - sold English subjects, recommended by every tie of national sympathy, - sold the honor of the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 75
British government itself,- without charge, without
complaint, without allegation of crime in conduct,
or of insufficiency in talents: he sold them to thle
most known and abandoned character whiclh thle rank
servitude of that clime produces. For hIim he entirely broke and quashed the Council of Moorshllcdabad, which had been the settled government for twelve
years, (a long period in the changeful history of India,) - at a time, too, when it had acquired a great degree of consistency, an official experience, a knowledge and habit of business, and was makillg full amends for early errors.
For now Mr. Hastings, having buried Colonel Monson and General Clavering, and having shaken off Mr. Francis, who retired half dead from office, began at
length to respire; he found elbow-room once more
to display his genuine nature and disposition, and to
make amends in a riot and debauch of peculation for
the forced abstinence to which he was reduced during
the usurped dominion of honor and integrity.
It was not enough that the English were thus sacrificed to the revenge of Debi Sing. It was necessary
to deliver over the natives to his avarice. By the intervcntion of bribe-brokerage lie united the two great rivals in iniquity, who before, from an emulatioll of
crimes, were enemies to each otlier, - Gunga Govind
Sing and Debi Sing. He negotiated the bribe and
the farm of the latter through the former; and Debi
Sing was invested in farm for two years with tile three
provinces of Dinagepore, Edrackpore, and Rungpore,
-- territories making together a tract of land superior
in dimensions to the northern counties of England,
Yorkshire included.
To prevent anything which might prove an obstacle
? ? ? ? 76 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
on the full swing of his genius, he removed all the
restraints which had been framed to give an ostensible
credit, to give some show of official order, to the plans
of revenue administration framed from time to time
in Bengal. An officer, called a dewan, had been established in the provinces, expressly as a check on the
person who should act as farmer-general. This office
he conferred along with that of farmer-general on
Debi Sing, in order that Debi might become an effectual check upon Sing; and thus these provinces,
without inspection, without control, without law, and
without magistrates, were delivered over by Mr. Hastings, bound hand and foot, to the discretion of the
man whom he had before recorded as the destroyer
of Purneah, and capable of every the most atrocious
wickedness that could be imputed to man.
Fatally for the natives of India, every wild project
and every corrupt sale of Mr. Hastings, and those
whose example he followed, is covered with a pretended increase of revenue to the Company. Mr.
Hastings would not pocket his bribe of 40,0001. for
himself without letting the Company in as a sharer
and accomplice. For the province of Rulngpore, the
object to which I mean in this instance to confine
your attention, 7,0001. a year was added. But lest
this avowed increase of rent should seem to lead to
oppression, great and religious care was taken in the
covenant so stipulated with Debi Sing, that this increase should not arise from any additional assessment whatsoever on the colintry, but solely firom improvements in the cultivation, and the encouragement to be given to the landholder and husbandman.
Buet as Mr. Hastings's bribe, of a far greater sum, was
not guarded by any such provision, it was left to the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 77
discretion of the donor in what manner he was to
indemnify himself for it.
Debi Sing fixed the seat of his authority at Dinagepore, where, as soon as lie arrived, lie did not lose a moment in doing his duty. If Mr. Hastings can forget 1his covenant, you may easily believe that Debi
Sing had not a more correct memory; and accordingly, as soon as he came into the province, lie instantly broke every covenant which he had entered into as a
restraint on his avarice, rapacity, and tyranny, which,
from the highest of the nobility and gentry to the
lowest husbandmen, were afterwards exercised, with
a stern and unrelenting impartiality, upon the whole
people. For, notwithstanding the province before
Debi Sing's lease was, from various causes, in a state
of declension, and in balance for the revenue of the
preceding yetr, at his very first entrance into office
he forced from the zemindars or landed gentry an
enormous increase of their tribute. They refused
compliance. On this refusal he threw the whole body
of zemindars into prison, and thus in bonds and fetters
compelled them to sigu their own ruin by an increase
of rent which they knew they could never realize.
Having thus gotten them under, he added exaction
to exaction, so that every day announced some new
and varied demand, until, exhausted by these oppressions, they were brought to the extremity to which lihe meant to drive them, the sale of their lands.
The lands held by the zemindars of that country are
of many descriptions. The first and most general are
those that pay revenue; the others are of the nature
of demesne lands, which are free, and pay no rent to
government. The latter are for the immediate support of the zemindars and their families,- as from
? ? ? ? 7I IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the former they derive their influence, authority, and
the means of upholding their dignity. The lands of
the former description were immediately attaclled,
sequestered, and sold for the most trifling consideration. The rent-free lands, the best and richest lanlds of tlhe whole province, were sold, - sold for - what
do your Lordships think? They were sold for less
than one year's purchase, - at less than one year's
purchase, at the most underrated value; so that the
fee-simple of an English acre of rent-free land sold at
the rate of seven or eight shillings. Such a sale, on
such terms, strongly indicated the purchaser. And
how did it turn out in fact? The purchaser was the
very agent and instrument of Mr. Hastings, Debi
Sing himself. He made the exaction; lie forced the
sale; lie reduced the rate; and lie became the purchaser at less than one year's purchase,'and paid with the very money which he had extorted from the miserable vendors.
When lie had thus sold and separated thlese lands,
he united the whole body of them, amounting to about
7,0001. sterling a year (but, according to the rate of
money and living in that country, equivalent to a rental in Enllland of 30,0001. a year); and then having raised in thle new letting, as on the sale lie had fraudulently reduced those lands, lie reserved them as an estate for himself, or to whomsoever resembling himself Mr. Hastings should order them to be disposed. The lands, thus sold for next to nothing, left of
course the late landholder still in debt. The failure
of finid, the rigorous exaction of debt, and the miultiplication of new arbitrary taxes next carried off the goods.
There is a circumstance attending this business
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - THIRD DAY. 79
which will call for your Lordships' pity. Most of the
landholders or zemindars in that country happened
at that time to be women. Tile sex thlere is in a state
certainly resembling imprisonment, but guarded as
a sacred treasure with all possible attention and respect. None of the coarse male hands of the law
can reach them; but they have a custom, very cautiously used in all good governments there, of employing female bailiffs or sergeants in the execution of the law, where that sex is concerned. Guards, therefore,
surrounded the houses; and then female sergeants
and bailiffs entered into the habitations of these female
zemindars, and held their goods and persons in execution, - nothing being left but what was daily threatened, their life and honor. The landholders, even women of eminent rank and condition, (for such the
greatest part of the zeminldars then were,) fled from
the ancient seats of their ancestors, and left their
miserable followers and servants, who in that country
are infinitely numerous, without protection and without bread. The monthly instalment of Mr. Hastings's
bribe was become due, and his rapacity must be fed
from the vitals of the people.
The zemindars, before their own flight, had the
mortification to see all the lands assigned to charitable
and to religious uses, the lhumane and pious foundations of themselves and their ancestors, made to support infirmity and decrepitude, to give feet to the lame and eyes to the blind, and to effect which they
had deprived themselves of manly of the enijoyments
of life, cruelly sequestered and sold at the sanme market of violence and fraud where their demesne possessions and their goods had been before made away with. Even the lands and funds set aside for their
? ? ? ? 80 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
funeral ceremonies, in which they hoped to find an
end to their miseries, and some indemnity of imagination for all the substantial sufferings of their lives, -- even the very feeble consolations of death, were, by
the same rigid hand of tyranny, -- a tyranny more
consuming than the funeral pile, more greedy than
the grave, and more inexorable than death itself, --
seized and taken to make good the honor of corruption
and the faith of bribery pledged to Mr. Hastings or
his instruments.
Thus it fared with the better and middling orders
of the people. Were the lower, the more industrious,
spared? Alas! as their situation was far more helpless, their oppression was infinitely more sore and grievous, the exactions yet more excessive, the demand
yet more vexatious, more capricious, more arbitrary.
To afford your Lordships some idea of the condition
of those who were served up to satisfy Mr. Hastings's
hunger and thirst for bribes, I shall read it to you in
the very words of the representative tyrant himself,
Rajah Debi Sing. Debi Sing, when he was charged
with a fraudulent sale of the ornaments of gold and
silver of women, who, according to the modes of that
country, had starved themselves to decorate their unhappy persons, argued on the improbability of this part of the chllarge in these very words.
"It is notorious,' says he, " that poverty generally
prevails amongst the husbandmen of Rungpore, more
perhaps than in any other parts of the country.
