No More Learning

. . . . . 1,16,000 0 0
One bond, dated the 2d October,
1780, No. 1540. . . . . . 116,000 0 0.
One bond, dated the 23d November, 1780, No. 1354. . . . 1,74,0000 0 0
November.
Paid into the Treasury, and carried to the Governor-General's credit in the
12th page of the Deposits Journal of 1780-81,
mohurs of sorts which had been coined in the
Mint, and produced, as per 358 and 359
pages of the Company's General Journal of
1780 - 81:
Gold mohurs, 12,861 12 11, or
Calcutta siccas. . . . 2,05,788 14 9
Batta, 16 per cent. . . 32,926 3 6
1781. 2,38,715 2 3
30 April.
Paid into the Treasury, and credited
in the 637th page of the Company's General
Journal, as money received from the GovernorGeneral on account of Durbar charges: Sicca rupees. . . . . . 2,00,000 0 0
Batta, 16 per cent. . . . 32,000 0 0 2,32,000 0 0
Carried forward. . . 8,76,715 2 3
? ? ? ? 298 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE. Brought forward. . . 8,76,715 2 3
August.
Received in cash, and employed in
defraying my public disbursements, and credited in the Governor-General's account of Durbar charges for April, 1782. . 6. 58,000 0 0
Produce of the sum mentioned in the
Governor-General's letter to the Honorable
Secret Committee, dated 20th January, 1782,
and credited in the Governor-General's account of Durbar charges for April, 1782. . 10,30,275 1 3
Current rupees. . 19,64,990 3 6
( Errors excepted. )
WARREN HASTINGS.
FORT WILLIAM, 22d May, 1782.
B. No. 5.
I, WILLIAM LARKINS, do make oath and say, that
the letter and account to which this affidavit is affixed were written by me at the request of the Honorable Warren Hastings, Esquire, on the 22d May, 1782, from rough draughts written by himself in my
presence; that the cover of the letter was sealed up
by him in my presence, and was then intended to
have been transmitted to England by the " Lively,"
when that vessel was first ordered for dispatch; and
that it has remained closed until this day, when it
was opened for the express purpose of being accompanied by this affidavit.
So help me God.
WILLIAM LARKINS.
CALCUTTA, 16th December 1782.
Sworn this 16th day of December, 1782, before me,
J. HYDE.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 299
B. No. 6.
To the Honorable the Secret Committee of the
Honorable Court of Directors.
FORT WILLIAM, 16 December, 1782.
HONORABLE SIRS, --
The dispatch of the " Lively" having been protracted by various causes from time to time, the accompanying address, which was originally designed and
prepared for that dispatch, (no other conveyance
since occurring,) has of course been thus long detained. The delay is of no public consequence; but
it has produced a situation which with respect to
myself I regard as unfortunate, because it exposes
me to the meanest imputation from the occasion
which the late Parliamentary inquiries have since
furnished, but which were unknown when my letter was written, and written in the necessary consequence of a promise made to that effect in a former
letter to your Honorable Committee, dated 20th January last. However, to preclude the possibility of
such reflections from affecting me, I have desired
Mr. Larkins, who was privy to the whole transaction, to affix to the letter his affidavit of the date
in which it was written. I own I feel most sensibly
the mortification of being reduced to the necessity of
using such precautions to guard my reputation from
dishonor. If I had at any time possessed that degree
of confidence from my immediate employers which
they never withheld from the meanest of my predecessors, I should have, disdained to use these attentions. How I have drawn on me a different treatment I know not; it is sufficient that I have not
? ? ? ? 300 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
merited it: and in the course of a service of thirtytwo years, and ten of these employed in maintaining the powers and discharging the duties of the first
office of the British government in India, that HIon
orable Court ought to know whether I possess the
integrity and honor which are the first requisites of
such a station. If I wanted these, they have afforded
me but too powerful incentives to suppress the information which I now convey to them through you, and to appropriate to my own use the sums which I have
already passed to their credit, by the unworthy, and,
pardon me if I add, dangerous, reflections which they
have passed upon me for the first communication of
this kind: and your own experience will suggest to
you, that there are persons who would profit by such
a warning.
Upon the whole of these transactions, which to you,
who are accustomed to view business in an official
and regular light, may appear unprecedented, if not
improper, I have but a few short remarks to suggest
to your consideration.
If I appear in any unfavorable light by these transactions, I resign the common and legal security of
those who commit crimes or errors. I am ready to
answer every particular question that may be put
against myself, upon honor or upon oath.
The sources from which these reliefs to the public
service have come would never have yielded them to
the Company publicly; and the exigencies of your
service (exigencies created by the exposition of your
affairs, and faction in your councils) required those
supplies.
I could have concealed them, had I had a wrong
motive, from yours and the public eye forever; and I
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 301
know that the difficulties to which a spirit of injustice
may subject me for my candor and avowal are greater than any possible inconvenience that could have
attended the concealment, except the dissatisfaction
of my own mind. These difficulties are but a few of
those which I have suffered in your service. The applause of my own breast is my surest reward, and
was the support of my mind in meeting them: your
applause, and that of my country, are my next wish
in life.
I have the honor to be, Honorable Sirs,
Your most faithful, most obedient,
and most humble servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
B. No. 7.
Extract of the Company's General Letter to Bengal,
dated the 25th January, 1782.
PAR. 127. We have received a letter from our Governor-General, dated the 29th of November, 1780,
relative to an unusual tender and advance of money
made by him to the Council, as entered on your Consultation of the 26th of June, for the purpose of indemnifying the Company from the extraordinary charge which might be incurred by supplying the detachment under the command of Major Camac in the
invasion of the Mabratta dominions, which lay beyond
the district of Gohud, and thereby drawing the attention of Mahdajee Sindia (to whom the country appertained) from General Goddard, while the General was employed in the reduction of Bassein, and in se
? ? ? ? 302 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
curing the conquests made in the Guzerat country;
and also respecting the sum of three lacs of rupees
advanced by the Governor-General for the use of the
army under the command of Chimnajee Boosla without the authority or knowledge of the Council; with the reasons for taking these extraordinary steps under
the circumstances stated in his letter.
128. In regard to the first of these transactions, we
readily conceive, that, in the then state of the Council, the Governor-General might be induced to temporary secrecy respecting the members of the board,
not only because he might be apprehensive of opposition to the proposed application of the money, but,
perhaps, because doubts might have arisen concerning the propriety of appropriating it to the Company's
use on any account; but it does not appear to us that
there could be any real necessity for delaying to communicate to us immediate information of the channel
by which the money came into his possession, with a
complete illustration of the cause or causes of so extraordinary an event.
129. Circumstanced as affairs were at the moment,
it appears that the Governor-General had the measure much at heart, and judged it absolutely necessary. The means proposed of defraying the extra expense were very extraordinary; and the money, as we conceive, must have come into his hands by an unusual channel: and when more complete information
comes before us, we shall give our sentiments fully
upon the whole transaction.
130. In regard to the application of the Company's
money to the army of Chimnajee Boosla by the sole
authority of the Governor-General, he knew that it
was entirely at his own risk, and he has taken the re
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 303
sponsibility upon himself; nothing but the most urgent necessity could warrant the measure; nor can anything short of full proof of such necessity, and of
the propriety and utility of the extraordinary step
taken on the occasion, entitle the Governor-General
to the approbation of the Court of Directors; and
therefore, as in the former instance relative to the
sum advanced and paid into our Treasury, we must
also for the present suspend our judgment respecting'the money sent to the Berar army, without approving it in the least degree, or proceeding to censure our
Governor-General for this transaction.
B. No. 8.
Extract of Bengal Secret Consultations, the 9th
January, 1781.
THE following letter from the Governor-General
having been circulated, and the request therein made
complied with, an order on the Treasury passed accordingly.
HONORABLE SIR AND SIRS,Having had occasion to disburse the sum of three
lacs of sicca rupees on account of secret services, which
having been advanced from my own private cash, I
request that the same may be repaid to me in the following manner: --A bond to be granted me upon
the terms of the second loan, bearing date from the
1st October, for one lac of sicca rupees; a bond to be
granted me upon the terms of the first loan, bearing
date from the 1st October, for one lac of sicca rupees;
? ? ? ? 304 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
a bond to be granted me upon the terms of the first
loan, bearing date from the 2d October, for one lac
of sicca rupees.
I have the honor to be, &c. , &c. ,
(Signed) WARREN HASTINGS.
FORT WILLIAM, 5th January, 1781.
B. No. 9.
An Account of Bonds granted to the Governor - General,
from 1st January, 1779, to 31st May, 1782, with
Interest paid or credited thereon.
When paid into the Sum. Date of Bond. Rate of Interest.
Treasury.
CRs.
23d Nov. , 1780
15th Dec.
15th Jan. , 1781
Do. 1,16,000 2d Do. Do.
Do. 1,16,000 1st Do. 4 per cent.
17th March 50,000 17th Mar. , 1781
8th May, 1782 20,000 15th Sept. , 1781
Do. 15,000 8th Dec. , 1781 Do.
6,76,600
There does not appear to have been any interest paid
on the above bonds to 31st May, 1782, the last accounts received. In the Interest Books, 1780 - 81, the last received, the Governor-General has credit
for interest on the first six to April, 1781, to the
amount of CRs. 21,964 12 8.
(Errors excepted. )
JOHN ANNIS,
Auditor of Indian Accounts.
EAST INDIA HOUSE, 5th June, 1783.
1,74,000 23d Nov. , 1780 at 8 per cent. 69,600 15th Dec. Do.
1,16,000 1st Oct. , 1780
Do.
Do.
8 per cent.
? ? ? ? ARTICLES OF CHARGE
OF
HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS AGAINST
WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE,
LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL' PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN APRIL AND MAY, 1786.
ARTICLES I. -VI.
VOL. VIn. 20
? ? ? ? ARTICLES OF CHARGE
AGAINST
WARREN HASTINGS, ESQ. ,
LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL. I. - ROHILLA WAR.
HAT the Court of Directors of the East India
_ Company, from a just sense of the danger and
odium incident to the extension of their conquests in
the East Indies, and from an experience of the disorders and corrupt practices which intrigues and negotiations to bring about revolutions among the country powers had produced, did positively and repeatedly
direct their servants in Bengal not to engage in any
offensive war whatsoever. That the said Court laid
it down as an invariable maxim, which ought ever to be
maintained, that they were to avoid taking part in the
political schemes of any of the country princes, - and
did, in particular, order and direct that they should
not engage with a certain prince called Sujah ul Dowlah, Nabob of Oude, and Vizier of the Empire, in any
operations beyond certain limits in the said orders
specially described.
That Warren Hastings, Esquire, then Governor of
Fort William in Bengal, did, with other members of
the Council, declare his clear understanding of the
true intent and meaning of the said positive and repeated orders and injunctions, -- did express to the
Court of Directors his approbation of the policy there
? ? ? ? 308 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
of, - did declare that he adopted the same with sincerity and satisfaction, and that he was too well aware of
the ruinous tendency of all schemes of conquest ever to
adopt them, or ever to depart from the absolute line of
self-defence, unless impelled to it by the most obvious
necessity, - did signify to the Nabob of Oude the said
orders, and his obligation to yield punctual obedience
thereto, -- and did solemnly engage and promise to
the Court of Directors, with the unanimous concurrence of the whole Council, "that no object or consideration should either tempt or compel him to pass the political line which they [the Directors] had laid down
for his operations with the Vizier," assuring the Court
of Directors that he " scarce saw a possible advantage
which could compensate the hazard and expense to be
incurred by a contrary conduct," - that he did frequently repeat the same declarations, or declarations
to the same effect, particularly in a letter to the Nabob himself, of the 22d of November, 1773, in the
following words: "The commands of my superiors
are, as I have repeatedly informed you, peremptory,
that I shall not suffer their arms to be carried beyond
the line of their own boundaries, and those of your
Excellency, their ally. "
That the said Warren Hastings, in direct contradiction to the said orders, and to his own sense of
their propriety and coercive authority, and in breach
of his express promises and engagements, did, in September, 1773, enter into a private engagement with
the said Nabob of Oude, who was the special object of
the prohibition, to furnish him, for a stipulated sum
of money to be paid to the East India Company, with
a body of troops for the declared purpose of "thoroughly extirpating the nation of the Rohillas ": a na
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 309
tion from whom the Company had never received, or
pretended to receive or apprehend, any injury whatsoever; whose country, in the month of February,
1773, by an unanimous resolution of the said Warren Hastings and his Council, was included in the
line. of defence against the Mahrattas; and from
whom the Nabob never complained of an aggression
or act of hostility, nor pretended a distinct cause of
quarrel, other than the non-payment of a sum of
money in dispute between him and that people.
That, supposing the sum of money in question to
have been strictly due to the said Nabob by virtue of
any engagement between him and the Rohilla chiefs,
the East India Company, or their representatives,
were not parties to that engagement, or guaranties
thereof, nor bound by any obligation whatever to enforce the execution of it.
That, previous to the said Warren Hastings's entering into the agreement or bargain aforesaid to extirpate the said nation, he did not make, or cause to be made, a due inquiry into the validity of the sole pretext used by the said Nabob; nor did he give notice
of the said claims of debt to the nation of the Rohillas, in order to receive an explanation on their part
of the matter in litigation; nor did he offer any
mediation, nor propose, nor afford an opportunity of
proposing, an agreement or submission by which the
calamities of war might be avoided, as, by the high
state in which the East India Company stood as a
sovereign power in the East, and the honor and character it ought to maintain, as well as by the principles
of equity and humanity, and by the true and obvious
policy of uniting the power of the Mahometan princes
against the Mahrattas, he was bound to do. That,
? ? ? ? 310 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
instead of such previous inquiry, or tender of good offices, the said Warren Hastings did stimulate the ambition. and ferocity of the Nabob of Oude to the full completion of the inhuman end of the said unjustifiable enterprise, by informing him " that it would be
absolutely necessary to persevere in it until it should
be accomplished"; pretending that a fear of the Company's displeasure was his motive for annexing the
accomplishment of the enterprise as a condition of
his assistance, and asserting " that he could not hazard or answer for the displeasure of the Company,
his masters, if they should find themselves involved
in a fruitless war, or in an expense for prosecuting
it," -a pret'ence tending to the high dishonor of the
East India Company, as if the gain to be acquired
was to reconcile that body to the breach of their own
orders prohibiting all such enterprises; - and in order further to involve the said Nabob beyond the
power of retreating, he did, in the course of the proceeding, purposely put the said Nabob under difficulties in case he should decline that war, and did oblige him to accept even the permission to relinquish. the
execution of this unjust project as a favor, and to
make concessions for it; thereby acting as if the Company were principals in the hostility; and employing
for this purpose much double dealing and divers
unworthy artifices to entangle and perplex the said
Nabob, but by means of which he found himself (as
he has entered it on record) hampered and embarrassed in a particular manner.
That the said compact for offensive alliance in favor of a great prince against a considerable nation
was not carried on by projects and counter-projects in
writing; nor were the articles and conditions thereof
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 311
formed into any regular written instrument, signed
and sealed by the parties; but the whole (both the
negotiation and the compact of offensive alliance
against the Rohillas) was a mere verbal engagement, the purport and conventions whereof nowhere
appeared, except in subsequent correspondence, irn
which certain of the articles, as they were stated by
the several parties, did materially differ: a proceeding new and unprecedented, and directly leading to
mutual misconstruction, evasion, and ill faith, and
tending to encourage and protect every species of
corrupt, clandestine practice. That, at the time
when this private verbal agreement was made by the
said Warren Hastings with the Nabob of Oude, a public ostensible treaty was concluded by him with the
said Nabob, in which there is no mention whatever of
such agreement, or reference whatever to it: in defence of which omission, it is asserted by the said
Warren Hastings, that the multiplication of treaties
weakens their efficacy, and therefore they should be reserved only for very important and permanent obligations; notwithstanding he had previously declared to the said Nabob,' that the points which he had proposed required much consideration, and the previous
ratification of a formal agreement, before he could
consent to them. That the whole of the said verbal agreement with the Nabob of Oude in his own
person, without any assistance on his part, was carried on and concluded by the said Warren Hastings
alone, without any person who might witness the
same, without the intervention even of an interpreter, though he confesses that he spoke the Hindostan language imperfectly, and although he had with
him at that time and place several persons high in
? ? ? ? 312 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the Company's service and confidence, namely, the
commander-in-chief of their forces, two members of
their Council, and the Secretary to the Council, who
were not otherwise acquainted with the proceedings
between him and the said Nabob than by such communications as he thought fit to make to them.
That the object avowed by the said Warren IHastings, and the motives urged by him for employing
the British arms in the utter extirpation of the Rohilla nation, are stated by himself in the following
terms: -- " The acquisition of forty lacs of rupees to
the Company, and of so much specie added to the exhausted currency of our provinces; -- that it would
give wealth to the Nabob of Oude, of which we should
participate; -- that the said Warren Hastings should
always be ready to profess that he did reckon the
probable acquisition of wealth among his reasons for
taking up arms against his neighbors;- that it would
ease the Company of a considerable part of their military expense, and preserve their troops from inaction
and relaxation of discipline;- that the weak state of
the Rohillas promised an easy conquest of them;and, finally, that such was his idea of the Company's
distress at home, added to his knowledge of their
wants abroad, that he should have been glad of any
occasion to employ their forces which saved so much
of their pay and expenses. "
That, in the private verbal agreement aforesaid for
offensive war, the said Warren Hastings did transgress the bounds of the authority given him by his instructions from the Council of Fort William, which had limited his powers to such compacts " as were
consistent with the spirit of the Company's orders ";
which Council he afterwards persuaded, and with dif
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 313
ficulty drew into an acquiescence in what he had
done.
That the agreement to the effect aforesaid was settiled in the said secret conferences before the 10th of
September, 1773; but the said Warren Hastings, concealing from the Court of Directors a matter of which
it was his duty to afford them the earliest and fullest information, did, on the said 10th of September,
1773, write to the Directors, and dispatched his letter
over land, giving them an account of the public
treaty, but taking not the least notice of his agreement for a mercenary war against the nation of the
Rohillas.
That, in order to conceal the true purport of the
said clandestine agreement the more effectually, and
until he should find means of gaining over the rest
of the Council to a concurrence in his disobedience
of orders, he entered a minute in the Council books,
giving a false account of the transaction; in which
minute he represented that the Nabob had indeed proposed the design aforesaid, and that he, the said Warren Hastings, was pleased that he urged the scheme of this expedition nofurther, when in reality and truth he
had absolutely consented to the said enterprise, and
had engaged to assist him in it, which he afterwards
admitted, and confessed that he did act in consequence of the same.
That the said Warren Hastings and his Council
were sensible of the true nature of the enterprise
in which they had engaged the Company's arms, and
of the heavy responsibility to which it would subject
himself and the Council, -- " the personal hazard they,
the Council, run, in undertaking so uncommon a measure without positive instructions, at their own risk,
? ? ? ? 314 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
with the eyes of the whole nation on the affairs of the
Company, and the passions and prejudices of almost
every man in England inflamed against the conduct
of the Company and the character of its servants ";
yet they engaged in the very practice which had
brought such odium on the Company, and on the
character of its servants, though they further say that
they had continually before their eyes the dread of forfeiting the favor of their employers, and becoming the
" objects of popular invectives. " The said Warren
Hastings himself says, at the very time when he proposed the measure, " I must confess I entertain some
doubts as to its expediency at this time, from the circumstances of the Company at home, exposed to popular clamor, and all its measures liable to be canvassed in Parliament, their charter drawing to a close, and his Majesty's ministers unquestionably ready to
take advantage of every unfavorable circumstance in
the negotiations of its renewal. " ~ All these considerations did not prevent the said Warren Hastings from
making and carrying into execution the said mercenary agreement for a sum of money, the payment of
which the Nabob endeavored to evade on a construetion of the verbal treaty, and was so far from being
insisted on, as it ought to have been, by the said Warren Hastings, that, when, after the completion of the
service, the commander-in-chief was directed to make
a demand of the money, the agent of the said Warren Hastings at the same time assured the Nabob
" that the demand was nothing more than matter of
form, common, and even necessary, in all public transactions, and that, although the board considered the
claim of the government literally due, it was not the
intention of administration to prescribe to his Excel
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 315
lency the mode, or even limits, of payment. " Nor was
any part of the money recovered, until the establishment of the Governor-General and Council by act of
Parliament, and their determination to withdraw the
brigade from the Nabob's service, -the Resident at
his court, appointed by the said Warren Hastings,
having written, that he had experienced much duplicity
and deceit in most of his transactions with his Excellency; and the said Nabob and his successors falling back
in other payments in the same or greater proportion
as he advanced in the payment of this debt, the consideration of lucre to the Company, the declared motive to this shameful transaction, totally failed, and no money in effect and substance (as far as by any
account to be depended on appears) has been obtained.
That the said Nabob of Oude did, in consequence
of the said agreement, and with the assistance of British troops, which were ordered to march and subjected to his disposal by the said Warren Hastings and the Council, unjustly enter into and invade the
country of the Rohillas, and did there make war in
a barbarous and inhuman manner, " by an abuse of
victory," " by the unnecessary destruction of the
country," " by a wanton display of violence and oppression, of inhumanity and cruelty," and " by the
sudden expulsion and casting down of an whole race
of people, to whom the slightest benevolence was
denied. " When prayer was made not to dishonor
the Begum (a princess of great rank, whose husband
had been killed in battle) and other women, by draygging them about the country, to be loaded with the scoffs
of the Nabob's rabble, and otherwise still worse used,
the Nabob refused to listen to the entreaties of a British commander-in-chief in their favor; and the said
? ? ? ? 316 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
women of high rank were exposed not only to the vilest personal indignities, but even to absolute want:
and these transactions being by Colonel Champion
communicated to the said Warren Hastings, instead
of commendations for his intelligence, and orders to
redress the said evils, and to prevent the like in future,
by means which were suggested, and which appear to
have been proper and feasible, he received a reprimand from the said Warren Hastings, who declared
that we had no authority to control the conduct of
the Vizier in the treatment of his subjects; and that
Colonel Champion desisted from making further representations on this subject to the said Warren Hastings, being apprehensive of having already run some risk of displeasing by perhaps a too free communication of sentiments. That, in consequence of the said
proceedings, not only the eminent families of the
chiefs of the Rohilla nation were either cut off or banished, and their wives and offspring reduced to utter
ruin, but the country itself, heretofore distinguished
above all others for the extent of its cultivation as a
garden, not having one spot in it of uncultivated ground,
and from being in the most flourishing state that a
country could be, was by the inhuman mode of carrying on the war, and the ill government during the
consequent usurpation, reduced to a state of great
decay and depopulation, in which it still remains.
That the East India Company, having had reason
to conceive, that, for the purpose of concealing corrupt transactions, their servants in India had made
unfair, mutilated, and garbled communications of
correspondence, and sometimes had wholly withheld
the same, made an order in their letter of the 23d
of March, 1770, in the following tenor: -- " The Gov
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 317
ernor singly shall correspond with the country powers;
but all letters, before they shall be by him sent, must
be communicated to the other members of the Select
Committee, and receive their approbation; and also
all letters whatsoever which may be received by the
Governor, in answer to or in course of correspondence, shall likewise be laid before the said Select Committee for their information and consideration "; and
that in their instructions to their Governor-General
and Council, dated 30th March, 1774, they did repeat
their orders to the same purpose and effect.
That the said Warren Hastings did not obey, as inl
duty he was bound to do, the said standing orders;
nor did communicate all his correspondence with
Mr. Middleton, the Company's agent at the court of
the Subah of Oude, or with Colonel Champion, the
commander-in-chief of the Company's forces in the
Rohilla war, to the Select Committee: and when
afterwards, that is to say, on the 25th of October,
1774, lie was required by the majority of the Council
appointed by the act of Parliament of 1773, whose
opinion was by the said act directed to be taken as
the act of the whole Council, to produce all his correspondence with Mr. Middleton and Colonel Champion for the direction of their future proceedings relative to the obscure, intricate, and critical transaction aforesaid, he did positively and pertinaciously refuse to deliver any other than such parts of t correspolldence as he thought convenient, covering
hlis said illegal refusal under general vague pretences
of secrecy and danger from the communication, although the said order and instruction of the Court of
Directors above mentioned was urged to him, and although it was represented to him by the said Cottnicil,,
? ? ? ? 318 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
that they, as well as he, were bound by an oath of
secrecy: which refusal to obey the orders of the Court
of Directors (orders specially, and on weighty grounds
of experience, pointed to cases of this very nature)
gave rise to much jealousy, and excited great suspicions relative to the motives and grounds on which
the Rohilla war had been undertaken.
That the said Warren Hastings, in the grounds alleged in his justification of his refusal to communicate
to his colleagues in the Superior Council his correspondence with Mr. Middleton, the Company's Resident at Oude, was guilty of a new offence, arrogating
to himself unprecedented and dangerous powers, on
principles utterly subversive of all order and discipline
in service, and introductory to corrupt confederacies
and disobedience among the Company's servants; the
said Warren Hastings insisting that Mr. Middleton,
the Company's covenanted servant, the public Residenlt for transacting the Company's affairs at the
court of the Subah of Oude, and as such receiving
from the Company a salary for his service, was no
other than the official agent of him, the said Warren
Hastings, and that, being such, he was not obliged to
communicate his correspondence.
That the Court of Directors, and afterwards a
General Court of the Proprietors of the East India,
Company, (although the latter showed favorable dispositions towards the said Warren Hastings, and expressed, but without assigiiing any ground or reason,
the highest opinion of his services and integrity,) did
unanimously condemn, along with his conduct relative to the Rohilla treaty and war, his refusal to communicate his whole correspondence with Mr. Middleton to the Superior Council: yet the said Warren
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 319
Hastings, in defiance of the opinion of the Directors,
and the unanimous opinion of the General Court of
the said East India Company, as well as the precedent positive orders of the Court of Directors, and the
injunctions of an act of Parliament, has, from that
time to the present, never made any communication
of the whole of his correspondence to the GovernorGeneral and Council, or to the Court of Directors.
II. - SHAH ALLUM.
THAT, in a solemn treaty of peace, concluded the
16th of August, 1765, between the East India Company and the late Nabob of Oude, Sujah ul Dowlah,
and highly approved of, confirmed, and ratified by
the said Company, it is agreed, "that the King Shah
Allum shall remain in full possession of Corah, and
such part of the province of Allahabad as he now possesses, which are ceded to his Majesty as a royal demesne for the support of his dignity and expenses. " That, in a separate agreement, concluded at the
same time, between the King Shah Allum and the
then Subahdar of Bengal, under the immediate security and guaranty of the English Company, the faith
of the Company was pledged to the said King for the
annual payment of twenty-six lac of rupees for his
support out of the revenues of Bengal; and that the
said Company did then receive from the said King
a grant of the duann6 of the provinces of Bengal,
Bahar, and Orissa, on the express condition of their
being security for the annual payment above mentioned. That the East India Company have held,
and continue to hold, the duann6 so granted, and
? ? ? ? 320 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
for some years have complied with the conditions on
which they accepted of the grant thereof, and have at
all times acknowledged that they held the duann6
in virtue of the Mogul's grants. That the said Court
of Directors, in their letter of the 30th June, 1769, to
Bengal, declared, "that they esteemed themselves
bound by treaty to protect the King's person, and to
secure him the possession of the Corah and Allahabad
districts"; and supposing an agreement should be
made respecting these provinces between the King
and Sujah ul Dowlah, the Directors then said, " that
they should be subject to no further claim or requisition from the King, excepting for the stipulated tribute for Bengal, which they [the Governor and Council] were to pay to his agent, or remit to him in such manner as he might direct. "
That, in the year 1772, the King Shah Allum,
who had hitherto resided at Allahabad, trusting to
engagements which he had entered into with the Mahrattas, quitted that place, and removed to Delhi; but,
having soon quarrelled with those people, and afterwards being taken prisoner, had been treated by
them with very great disrespect and cruelty. That,
among other instances of their abuse of their immediate power over him, the Governor and Council of Bengal, in their letter of the 16th of August,
1773, inform the Court of Directors that he had been
compelled, while a prisoner in their hands, to grant
sunnuds for the surrender of Corah and Allahabad to
them; and it appears from sundry other minutes of
their own that the said Governor and Council did at
all times consider the surrender above mentioned as
extorted from the King, and unquestionably an act of
violence, which could not alienate or impair his right
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 321
to those provinces, and that, when they took possess
sion thereof, it was at the request of the King's Naib,
or viceroy, who put them under the Council's protection. That on this footing they were accepted by the said Warren Hastings and his Council, and for some
time considered by them as a deposit committed to
their care by a prince to whom the possession thereof
was particularly guarantied by the East India Company. In their letter of the 1st of March, 1773, they
(the said Warren Hastings and his Council) say,
"Iln no shape can this compulsatory cession by the
King release us from the obligation we are under to,
defend the provinces which we have so particularly.
guarantied to him. " But it appears that they soonl
adopted other ideas and assumed other principles
concerning this object. In the instructions, dated
the 23d of June, 1773, which the Council of Fort
William gave to the said Warren Hastings, previous
to his interview with the Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah at
Benares, they say, that, " while the King continued
at Delhi, whither he proceeded in opposition to their
most strenuous remonstrances, they should certainly
consider the engagements between him and the Company as dissolved by his alienation from them and their interest; that the possession of so remote a
country could never be expected to yield any profit
to the Company, and the defence of it must require
a perpetual aid of their forces ": yet in the same instructions they declare their opinion, that, "if the
King should make overtures to renew his former connection, his right to reclaim the districts of Corah and Allahabad could not with propriety be disputed," and
they authorize the said Warren Hastings to restore
them to him on condition that he should renounce his
VOL. VIII. 21
? ? ? ? 322 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
claim to the annual tribute of twenty-six lac of rupees,
herein before mentioned, and to the arrears which
might be due, thereby acknowledging the justice of a
claim which they determined not to comply with but
in return for the surrender of another equally valid;
- that, nevertheless, in the treaty concluded by the
said Warren Hastings with Sujah ul Dowlah on the
7th of September, 1773, it is asserted, that his Majesty, (meaning the King Shah Allum,) "having
abandoned the districts of Corah and Allahabad, and
given a sunnud for Corah and Currah to the Mahrattas, had thereby forfeited his right to the said districts," although it was well known to the said Warren Hastings, and had been so stated by him to the Court of Directors, that this surrender on the part
of the King had been extorted from him by violence,
while he was a prisoner in the hands of the Mahrattas, and although it was equally well known to the
said Warren Hastings that there was nothing in the
original treaty of 1765 which could restrain the King
from changing the place of his residence, consequently that his removal to Delhi could not occasion a forfeiture of his right to the provinces secured to him
by that treaty.
That the said Warren Hastings, in the report
which he made of his interview and negotiations
with Sujah ul Dowlah, dated the 4th of October, 1773,
declared, " that the administration would have been
culpable in the highest degree in retaining possession
of Corah and Allahabad for any other purpose than
that of making an advantage by the disposal of them,'. '
and therefore he had ceded them to the Vizier for
fifty lac of rupees: a measure for which he had no
authority whatever from the King Shah Allum, and iAl
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 323
the execution of which no reserve whatever was
made in favor of the rights of that prince, nor any
care taken of his interests.
That the sale of these provinces to Sujah Dowlah
involved the East India Company in a triple breach
of justice; since by the same act they violated a
treaty, they sold the property of another, and they
alienated a deposit committed to their friendship and
good faith, and as such accepted by them. That a
measure of this nature is not to be defended on
motives of policy and convenience, supposing such
motives to have existed, without a total loss of public
honor, and shaking all security in the faith of treaties;
but that in reality the pretences urged by the said
Warren Hastings for selling the King's country to
Sujah Dowlah were false and invalid. It could not
strengthen our alliance with Sujah ul Dowlah; since,
paying a price for a purchase, he received no favor
and incurred no obligation. It did not free the Company from all the dangers attending either a remote
property or a remote connection; since, the moment
the country in question became part of Sujah Dowlah's dominions, it was included in the Company's former guaranty of those dominions, and in case of invasion the Company were obliged to send part of their army to defend it at the requisition of the said Sujah
Dowlah; and if the remote situation of those provinces made the defence of them difficult and dangerous,
much more was it a difficult and dangerous enterprise
to engage the Company's force in an attack and invasion of the Rohillas, whose country lay at a much
greater distance from the Company's frontier, --
which, nevertheless, the said Warren Hastings agreed
to and undertook at the very time when, under pre
? ? ? ? 324 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tence of the difficulty of defending Corah and Allahabad, he sold those provinces to Sujah Dowlah. It did
not relieve the Company from the expense of defending the country; since the revenues thereof far exceeded the subsidy to be paid by Sujah Dowlah, and these revenues justly belonged to the Company as
long as the country continued under their protection,
and would have answered the expense of defending it.
Finally, that the sum of fifty lac of rupees, stipulated with the said Sujah Dowlah, was inadequate to the
value of the country, the annual revenues of which
were stated at twenty-five lac of rupees, which General Sir Robert Barker, then commander-in-chief of
the Company's forces, affirms was certain, and too,generally known to admit of a doubt.
That the King Shah Allum received for some years
the annual tribute of twenty-six lac of rupees above
mentioned, and was entitled to continue to receive it
by virtue of an engagement deliberately, and for an
adequate consideration, entered into with him by the
Company's servants, and approved of and ratified by
the Company themselves; -- that this engagement
was absolute and unconditional, and did neither express nor suppose any case in which the said King
should forfeit or the Company should have a right
to resume the tribute;- that, nevertheless, the said
Warren Hastings and his Council, immediately after
selling the King's country to Sujah Dowlah, resolved
to withhold, and actually withheld, the payment of
the said tribute, of which the King Shah Allum has
never since received any part; -- that this resolution
of the Council is not justified even by themselves on
principles of right and justice, but by arguments of
policy and convenience, by which the best founded
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 325
claims of right and justice may at all times be set
aside and defeated. " They judged it highly impolitic and unsafe to answer the drafts of the King,
until they were satisfied of his amicable intentions,
and those of his new allies. " But neither had they
any reason to question the King's amicable intentions,
nor was he pledged to answer for those of the Mahrattas; his trusting to the good faith of that people,
and relying on their assistance to reinstate him in
the possession of his capital, might have been imprudent and impolitic, but these measures, however ruinous to himself, indicated no enmity to the English, nor were they productive of any effects injurious to
the English interests. And it is plain that the said
Warren Hastings and his Council were perfectly aware
that their motives or pretences for withholding the
tribute were too weak to justify their conduct, having principally insisted on the reduced state of their
treasury, which, as they said, rendered it impracticable to comply with those payments. The right of a
creditor does not depend on the circumstances of the
debtor: on the contrary, the plea of inability includes
a virtual acknowledgment of the debt; since, if the
creditor's right were denied, the plea would be superfluous.
That the East India Company, having on their part
violated the engagements and renounced the conditions on which they received and have hitherto held
and enjoyed the duann6 of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa from the King Shah Allum, have thereby forfeited all right and title to the said duann6 arising from
the said grant, and that it is free and open to the said
King to resume such grant, and to transfer it to any
other prince or state; - that, notwithstanding any dis
? ? ? ? 326 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tress or weakness to which he may be actually reduced, his lawful authority, as sovereign of the Mogul Empire, is still acknowledged in India, and that his grant of the duanne would sufficiently authorize
and materially assist any prince or state that might
attempt to dispossess the East India Company thereof, since it would convey a right which could not be
disputed, and to which nothing but force could be
opposed. Nor can these opinions be more strongly
expressed than they have been lately by the said Warren Hastings himself, who, in a minute recorded the
1st of December, 1784, has declared, that, " fallen as
the House of Timur is, it is yet the relic of the most
illustrious line of the Eastern world; that its sovereignty is universally acknowledged, though the substance of it no longer exists; and that the Company itself derives its constitutional dominion from its ostensible bounty. "
That the said Warren Hastings by this declaration
has renounced and condemned the principle on which
he avowedly acted towards the Mogul in the year
1773, when he denied that the sunnuds or grants of
the Mogul, if they were in the hands of another nation, would avail them anything, - and when he declared " that the sword which gave us the dominion of Bengal must be the instrument of its preservation,
and that, if it should ever cease to be ours, the next
proprietor would derive his right and possession from
the same natural charter. " That the said Warren
Hastings, to answer any immediate purpose, adopts
any principle of policy, however false or dangerous,
without any regard to former declarations made, or
to principles avowed on other occasions by himself;
and particularly, that in his conduct to Shah Allum
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 327
he first maintained that the grants of that prince
were of no avail, -- that we held the dominion of
Bengal by the sword, which he has falsely declared
the source of right, and the natural charter of dominion, - whereas at a later period he has declared that the sovereignty of the family of Shah Allum is universally acknowledged, and that the Company itself derives its constitutional dominion from their ostensible bounty.
III. - BENARES.
PART I.
RIGHTS AND TITLES OF THE RAJAH OF BENARES.
I. THAT the territory of Benares is a fruitful, and
has been, not long since, an orderly, well-cultivated,
and improved province, of great extent; and its capital city, hs Warren Hastings, Esquire, has informed the Court of Directors, in his letter of the 21st of
November, 1781, "is highly revered by the natives
of the Hindoo persuasion, so that many who have acquired independent fortunes retire to close their days inl a place so eminently distinguished for its sanctity "; and he further acquaints the Directors, " that
it may rather be considered as the seat of the Hindoo
religion than as the capital of a province. But as its
inhabitants are not composed of Hindoos only, the
former wealth which flowed into it from the offerings
of pilgrinis, as well as from the transactions of exchange, for which its central situation is adapted, has attracted numbers of Mahomedans, who still continue
to reside in it with their families. " And these circumstances of the city of Benares, which not only at
? ? ? ? 328 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tracted the attention of all the different descriptions
of men who inhabit Hindostan, but interested them
warmly in whatever it might suffer, did in a peculiar
manner require that the Governor-General and Council of Calcutta should conduct themselves with regard
to its rulers and inhabitants, when it became dependent on the Company, on the most distinguished principles of good faith, equity, moderation, and mildness. II. That the Rajah Bulwant Sing, late prince or
Zemindar of the province aforesaid, was a great lord
of the Mogul Empire, dependent on the same, through
the Vizier of the Empire, the late Sujah ul Dowlah,
Nabob of Oude; and the said Bulwant Sing, in the
commencement of the English power, did attach himself to the cause of the English Company; and the
Court of Directors of the said Company did acknowledge, in their letter of the 26th of May, 1768, that
" Bulwant Sing's joining us at the time he did was
of signal service, and the stipulation in his favor was
what he was justly entitled to "; and they did commend "the care that had been taken [by the then
Presidency] of those that had shown their attachment
to them [the Company] during the war"; and they
did finally express their hope and expectation in the
words following: " The moderation and attention
paid to those who have espoused our interests in this
war will restore our reputation in Hindostan, and that
the Indian powers will be convinced NO breach of
treaty will ever have our sanction. "
III. That the Rajah Bulwant Sing died on the
23d of August, 1770, and his son, Cheyt Sing, suc
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 329
ceeding to his rights and pretensions, the Presidency
of Calcutta (John Cartier, Esquire, being then President) did instruct Captain Gabriel Harper to procure
a confirmation of the succession to his son Cheyt
Sing, " as it was of the utmost political import to the
Company's affairs; and that the young man ought not
to consider the price to be paid to satisfy the Vizier's
jealousy and avarice. " And they did further declare as follows: " The strong and inviolable attachment which subsisted betwixt the Company and the father makes us most readily interpose our good offices for the son. " And the young Rajah aforesaid
having agreed, under the mediation of Captain Harper, to pay near two hundred thousand pounds as a
gift to the said Vizier, and to increase his tribute by
near thirty thousand pounds annually, a deed of confirmation was passed by the said Vizier to the said
Rajah and his heirs, by which he became a purchaser,
for valuable considerations, of his right and inheritance in the zemindary aforesaid. In consequence of
this grant, so by him, purchased, the Rajah was solemnly invested with the government in the city of
Benares, " amidst the acclamations of a numerous
people, and to the great satisfaction of all parties. "
And the said Harper, in his letter of the 8th October,
1770, giving an account of the investiture aforesaid,
did express himself in these words: " I will leave the
young Rajah and others to acquaint you how I have
conducted myself; only thus much let me say, that
I have kept a strict eye not to diminish our national honor, disinterestedness, and justice, which I will
conclude has had a greater effect in securing to the
Company their vast possessions than even the force
of arms, however formidable, could do. " The Pres
? ? ? ? 330 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ident of Calcutta testified his approbation of the
said Harper's conduct in the strongest terms, that
is, in the following: " Your disinterestedness has
been equally distinguishable as your abilities, and
both do you the greatest honor. "
IV. That the agreement between the Rajah and
Nabob aforesaid continued on both sides without any
violation, under the sanction and guaranty of the
East India Company, for three years, when Warren
Hastings, Esquire, being then President, did propose
a further confirmation of the said grant, and did, on
the 12th of October, 1773, obtain a delegation for
himself to be the person to negotiate the same: it
being his opinion, as expressed in his report of Octo-.
ber 4th, 1773, that the Rajah was not only entitled
to the inheritance of his zemindary by the grants
through Captain Harper, but that the preceding
treaty of Allahabad, though literally expressing no
more than a security personal to Bulwant Sing, did,
notwithstanding, in the true sense and import thereof, extend to his posterity; " and that it had been differently understood " (that is, not literally) " by
the Company, and by this administration; and the
Vizier had before put it out of all dispute by the solemn act passed in the Rajah's favor on his succession to the zemindary. "
V. That the Council, in their instructions to the
said Governor Hastings, did empower him " to renew,
in behalf of the Rajah Cheyt Sing, the stipulation
which was formerly made with the Vizier in consideration of his services in 1764 "; and the government was accordingly settled on the Rajah and his poster
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 331
ity, or to his heirs, on the same footing on which it
was granted to his said father, excepting the addition
aforesaid to the tribute, with an express provision
" that no increase shall ever hereafter be demanded. "
And the grant and stipulation aforesaid was further
confirmed by the said Sujah ul Dowlah, under the
Company's guaranty, by the most solemn and awful
form of oath known in the Mahomed}n religion, inserted in the body of the deed or grant; and the said Warren Hastings, strongly impressed with the opinion of the propriety of protecting the Rajah, and of
the injustice, malice, and avarice of the said Sujah
Dowlah, and the known family enmity subsisting between him and the Rajah, did declare, in his report
to the Council, as follows: " I am well convinced that
the Rajah's inheritance, and perhaps his life, are no
longer safe than while he enjoys the Company's protection, which is his due by the ties of justice and the obligations of public faith. "
VI. That some time after the new confirmation
aforesaid, that is to say, in the year 1774, the Governor-General and Council, which had been formed and the members thereof appointed by act of Parliament, did obtain the assignment of the sovereignty paramount of the said government by treaty with the
Nabob of Oude, by which, although the supreme dominion was changed, the terms and the conditions of the tenure of the Rajah of Benares remained; as the
said Nabob of Oude could transfer to the East India
Company no other or greater estate than he himself
possessed in or over the said zemindary. But to obviate any misconstruction on the subject, the said Warren Hastings did propose to the board, that, what
? ? ? ? 332 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ever provision might in the said treaty be made
for the interest of the Company, the same should be
"without an encroachment on the just rights of the
Rajah, or the engagements actually subsisting with him.