to the Eleventh Report, the
insertion
of which has
been judged necessary for the elucidation of the subject-matter of
that Report.
been judged necessary for the elucidation of the subject-matter of
that Report.
Edmund Burke
General Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr.
Francis declared, in a minute entered on the Consultations of the 5th May, 1775,
that, " in the late proceedings of the Revenue Board,
it will appear that there is no species of peculation
from which the Honorable Governor-General has
thought proper to abstain. " A charge of offences of
so heinous a nature, so very extensive, so very deliberate, made on record by persons of great weight,
appointed by act of Parliament his associates in the
highest trust, - a charge made at his own board, to
his own face, and transmitted to their common superiors, to whom they were jointly and severally accountable, this was not a thing to be passed over by
Mr. Hastings; still less ought it to have perished in
other hands. It ought to have been brought to an
immediate and strict discussion. General Clavering,
Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis ought to have been
punished for a groundless accusation, if such it had
been. If the accusation were founded, Mr. Hastings
was very unfit for the high office of Governor-General,
or for any office.
After this comprehensive account by his colleagues
of the Governor-General's conduct, these gentlemen
proceeded to the particulars, and they produced the
case of a corrupt bargain of Mr. Hastings concerning the disposition of office. This transaction is here
stated by your Committee in a very concise manner,
being on this occasion merely intended to point out
to the House the absolute necessity which, in their
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 277
opinion, exists for another sort of inquiry into the
corruptions of men in power in India than hitherto
has been pursued. The proceedings may be found at
large in the Appendix.
A complaint was made that Mr. Hastings had sold
the office of Phousdar of Hoogly to a person called
Khan Jehan Khan on a corrupt agreement, - which
was, that from his emoluments of seventy-two thousand rupees a year he was to pay to the GovernorGeneral thirty-six thousand rupees annually, and to
his banian, Cantoo Baboo, four thousand more. The
complainant offers to pay to the Company the forty
thousand rupees which were corruptly paid to these
gentlemen, and to content himself with the allowance of thirty-two thousand. Mr. Hastings was, if on
any occasion of his life, strongly called upon to bring
this matter to the most distinct issue; and Mr. Barwell, who supported his administration, and as such
ought to have been tender for his honor, was bound
to help him to get to the bottom of it, if his enemies
should be ungenerous enough to countenance such
an accusation without permitting it to be detected
and exposed. But the course they held was directly contrary. They began by an objection to receive the complaint, in which they obstinately persevered as far as their power went. Mr. Barwell was of opinion that the Company's instructions to inquire
into peculation were intended for the public interests, - that it could not forward the public interests
to enter into these inquiries, - and that " he never
would be a channel of aspersing any character, while
it cannot conduce to the good of government. " Here
was a new mode of reasoning found out by Mr. Barwell, which might subject all inquiry into peculation
? ? ? ? 278 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
to the discretion of the very persons charged with
it. By that reasoning all orders of his superiors were
at his mercy; and he actually undertook to set aside
those commands which by an express act of Parliament he was bound to obey, on his opinion of what
would or would not conduce to the good of government. On his principles, he either totally annihilates the authority of the act of Parliament, or he
entertains so extravagant a supposition as that the
Court of Directors possessed a more absolute authority, when their orders were not intended for the public good, than when they were.
General Clavering was of a different opinion. He
thought " he should be wanting to the legislature,
and to the Court of Directors, if he was not to receive
the complaints of the inhabitants, when properly authenticated, and to prefer them to the board for investigation, as the only means by which these grievances can be redressed, ahd the Company informed of the conduct of their servants. "
To these sentiments Colonel Monson and Mr.
Francis adhered. Mr. Hastings thought it more safe,
on principles similar to those assumed by Mr. Barwell, to refuse to hear the charge; but he reserved
his remarks on this transaction, because they will be
equally applicable to many others which in the course
of this business are likely to be brought before the board.
There appeared, therefore, to him a probability that
the charge about the corrupt bargain was no more
than the commencement of a whole class of such accusations; since he was of opinion (and what is very
extraordinary, previous to any examination) that the
same remarks would be applicable to several of those
which were to follow. He must suppose this class of
charges very uniform, as well as very extensive.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 279
The majority, however, pressed their point; and
notwithstanding his opposition to all inquiry, as he
was supported only by Mr. Barwell, the question for
it was carried. He was then desired to name a day
for the appearance of the accuser, and the institution
of the inquiry. Though baffled in his attempt to
stop the inquiry in the first stage, Mr. Hastings made
a second stand. He seems here to have recollected
something inherent in his own office, that put the
matter more in his power than at first he had imagined; for he speaks in a positive and commanding
tone: " I will not," says his minute, " name a day for
Mir Zin ul ab Dien to appear before the board; nor
will I suffer him to appear before the board. "
The question for the inquiry had been carried; it
was declared fit to inquire; but there was, according
to him, a power which might prevent the appearance
of witnesses. On the general policy of obstructing
such inquiries, Mr. Francis, on a motion to that effect, made a sound remark, which cannot fail of giving rise to very serious thoughts: "' That, supposing it agreed among ourselves that the board shall not
hear any charges or complaints against a member of
it, a case or cases may hereafter happen, in which,
by a reciprocal complaisance to each other, our respective misconduct may be effectually screened from
inquiry; and the Company, whose interest is concerned, or the parties who may have reason to complain of any one member individually, may be left without remedy. "
Mr. Barwell was not of the opinion of that gentleman, nor of the maker of the motion, General Clavering, nor of Mr. Monson, who supported it. He entertains sentiments with regard to the orders of
? ? ? ? 280 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
the Directors in this particular perfectly correspondent with those which he had given against the original inquiry. He says, " Though it may in some little degree save the Governor-General from personal insult, where there is no judicial power lodged, that
of inquisition can never answer any good purpose. "
This is doctrine of a most extraordinary nature and
tendency, and, as your Committee conceive, contrary
to every sound principle to be observed in the constitution of judicatures and inquisitions. The power
of inquisition ought rather to be wholly separated
from the judicial, the former being a previous step to
the latter, which requires other rules and methods,
and ought not, if possible, to be lodged in the same
hands. The rest of his minute (contained in the Ap
pendix) is filled with a censure on the native inhabitants, with reflections on the ill consequences which
would arise from an attention to their complaints,
and with an assertion of the authority of the Supreme
Court, as superseding the necessity and propriety of
such inquiries in Council. With regard to his principles relative to the natives and their complaints, if
they are admitted, they are of a tendency to cut off
the very principle of redress. The existence of the
Supreme Court, as a means of relief to the natives
under all oppressions, is held out to qualify a refusal
to hear in the Council. On the same pretence, Mr.
Hastings holds up the authority of the same tribunal.
But this and other proceedings show abundantly of
what efficacy that court has been for the relief of the
unhappy people of Bengal. A person in delegated
authority refuses a satisfaction to his superiors,
throwing himself on a court of justice, and supposes
that nothing but what judicially appears against hini
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 281
is a fit subject of inquiry. But even in this Mr.
Hastings fails in his application of his principle; for
the majority of the Council were undoubtedly competent to order a prosecution against him in the Supreme Court, which they had no ground for without
a previous inquiry. But their inquiry had other objects. No private accuser might choose to appear.
The party who was the subject of the peculation
might be (as here is stated) the accomplice in it.
No popular action or popular suit was provided by the
charter under whose authority the court was instituted. In any event, a suit might fail in the court for
the punishment of an actor in an abuse for want of
the strictest legal proof, which might yet furnish matter for the correction of the abuse, and even reasons
strong enough not only to justify, but to require, the
Director's instantly to address for the removal of a
Governor-General. -The opposition of Mr. Hastings
and Mr. Barwell proved as ineffectual in this stage
as the former; and a day was named by the majority
for the attendance of the party.
The day following this deliberation, on the assembling of the Council, the Governor-General, Mr. Hastings, said, " he would not sit to be confronted by such accusers, nor to suffer a judicial inquiry into his conduct at the board of which he is the president" As
on the former occasions, he declares the board dissolved. As on the former occasions, the majority did
not admit his claim to this power; they proceeded in
his absence to examine the accuser and witnesses.
Their proceedings are in Appendix K.
It is remarkable, that, during this transaction, Khan
Jehan Kha'n, the party with whom the corrupt agreement was made, declined an attendance under ex
? ? ? ? 282 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COlMMITTEE
cuses which the majority thought pretences for delay,
though they used no compulsory methods towards
his appearance. At length, however, he did appear,
and then a step was taken by Mr. Hastings of a very
extraordinary nature, after the steps which he had
taken before, and the declarations with which those
steps had been accompanied. Mr. Hastings, who had
absolutely refused to be present in the foregoing part
of the proceeding, appeared with Khan Jehan Khan.
And now the affair took another turn; other obstructions were raised. General Clavering said that the informations hitherto taken had proceeded upon oath.
Kha'n Jehan KhaIn had previously declared to General
Clavering his readiness to be so examined; but when
called upon by the board, he changed his mind, and
alleged a delicacy, relative to his rank, with regard to
the oath. In this scruple he was strongly supported
by Mr. Hastings. He and Mr. Barwell went further:
they contended that the Council had no right to administer an oath. They must have been very clear
in that opinion, when they resisted the examination
on oath of the very person who, if he could safely
swear to Mr. Hastings's innocence, owed it as a debt
to his patron not to refuse it; and of the payment of
this debt it was extraordinary in the patron not only
to enforce, but to support, the absolute refusal.
Although the majority did not acquiesce in this doctrine, they appeared to have doubts of the prudence of enforcing it by violent means; but, construing his
refusal into a disposition to screen the peculations of
the Governor-General, they treated him as guilty of a
contempt of their board, dismissed him from the service, and recommended another (not the accuser) to his office.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 283
The reasons on both sides appear in the Appendix.
Mr. Hastings accuses them bitterly of injustice to himself in considering the refusal of this person to swear
as a charge proved. How far they did so, and under
what qualifications, will appear by reference to the
papers in the Appendix. But Mr. Hastings " thanks
God that they are not his judges. " His great hold,
and not without reason, is the Supreme Court: and
he "' blesses the wisdom of Parliament, that constituted a court of judicature at so seasonable a time,
to check the despotism of the new Council. " It was
thought in England that the court had other objects
than the protection of the Governor-General against
the examinations of those sent out with instructions
to inquire into the peculations of men in power.
Though Mr. Hastings did at that time, and avowedly did, everything to prevent any inquiry that
was instituted merely for the information of the
Court of Directors, yet he did not feel hintself
thoroughly satisfied with his own proceedings. It
was evident that to them his and Mr. Barwell's
reasonings would not appear very respectful or sat
isfactory; he therefore promises to give them full
satisfaction at some future time. In his letter of
the 14th of September, 1775, he reiterates a former
declaration, and assures them of his resolution to this
purpose in the strongest terms. " I now again recur
to the declaration which I have before made, that it
is my fixed determination to carry literally into execution, and most fully and liberally explain every circumstance of my conduct on the points upon which 1 have been injuriously arraigned, - and to afford you
the clearest conviction of my own integrity, and of
the propriety of my motives for my declining a present defence of it. "
? ? ? ? 284 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
These motives, as far as they can be discovered,
were the violence of his adversaries, the interested
character and views of the accuser, and the danger
of a prosecution in the Supreme Court, which made
it prudent to reserve his defence. These arguments
are applicable to ally charge. Notwithstanding these
reasons, it is plain by the above letter that lie thought
himself bound at some time or other to give satisfaction to his masters: till he should do this, in his own opinion, he remained in an unpleasant situation. But
he bore his misfortune, it seems, patiently, with a confidence in their justice for his future relief. He says, " Whatever evil may fill the long interval which may
precede it. " That interval he has taken care to make
long enough; for near eight years are now elapsed,
and he has not yet taken the smallest step towards giving to the Court of Directors any explanation whatever, much less that full and liberal explanation which he had so repeatedly and solemnly promised. It is to be observed, that, though Mr. Hastings
talks in these letters much of his integrity, and of
the purity of his motives, and of full explanations, he
nowhere denies the fact of this corrupt traffic of office.
Though he had adjourned his defence, with so much
pain to himself, to so very long a day, he was not so
inattentive to the ease of Khan Jehan Khan as he
has shown himself to his own. He had been accused
of corruptly reserving to himself a part of the emoluments of this man's office; it was a delicate business to handle, whilst his defence stood adjourned; yet, in a very short time after a majority came into his hands, he turned out the person appointed by
General Clavering, &c. , and replaced the very man
with whom lie stood accused of the corrupt bargaiin;
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 285
what was worse, he had been charged with originally turning out another, to make room for this man. The whole is put in strong terms by the then majority of the Council, where, after charging him with every species of peculation, they add, "We believe
the proofs of his appropriating four parts in seven of
the salary with which the Company is charged for
the Phousdar of Hoogly are such as, whether sufficient or not to convict him in a court of justice, will not leave the shadow of a doubt concerning his guilt
in the mind of any unprejudiced person. The salary
is seventy-two thousand rupees a year; the Governor
takes thirty-six thousand, and allows Cantoo Baboo
four thousand more for the trouble he submits to in
conducting the negotiation with the Phousdar. This
also is the common subject of conversation and derision through the whole settlement. It is our firm opinion and belief, that the late Phousdar of Hoogly,
a relation of Mahomed Reza Khan, was turned out
of this office merely because his terms were not so
favorable as those which the Honorable GovernorGeneral has obtained from the present Phousdar. The Honorable Governor-General is pleased to assert,
with a confidential spirit peculiar to himself, that his
measures hitherto stand unimpeached, except by us.
We know not how this assertion is to be made good,
unless the most daring and flagrant prostitution in
every branch be deemed an honor to his administration. "
The whole style and tenor of these accusations, as
well as the nature of them, rendered Mr. Hastings's
first postponing, and afterwards totally declining, all
denial, or even defence or explanation, very extraordinary. No Governor ought to hear in silence such
? ? ? ? 286 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
charges; and no Court of Directors ought to have
slept upon them.
The Court of Directors were not wholly inattentive
to this business. They condemned his act as it deserved, and they went into the business of his legal right to dissolve the Council. Their opinions seemed
against it, and they gave precise orders against the use of any such power in future. On consulting Mr. Sayer, the Company's counsel, he was of a different opinion with regard to the legal right; but he thought, very properly, that the use of a right, and the manner and purposes for which it was used, ought not to have been separated. What he thought on this occasion appears in his opinion transmitted by the Court of Directors to Mr. Hastings and the Council-General.
" But it was as great a crime to dissolve the Council
upon base and sinister motives as it would be to assume
the power of dissolving, if he had it not. I believe
he is the first governor that ever dissolved a council
inquiring into his behavior, when he was innocent.
Before he could summon three councils and dissolve
them, he had time fully to consider what would be
the result of such conduct, to convince everybody,
beyond a doubt, of his conscious guilt. "
It was a matter but of small consolation to Mr.
Hastings, during the painful interval he describes, to
find that the Company's learned counsel admitted
that he had legal powers of which he made an use
that raised an universal presumption of his guilt.
Other counsel did not think so favorably of the
powers themselves. But this matter was of less consequence, because a great difference of opinion may arise concerning the extent of official powers, even
among men professionally educated, (as in this case
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 287
such a difference did arise,) and well-intentioned
men may take either part. But the use that was
made of it, in systematical contradiction to the Company's orders, has been stated in the Ninth Report, as well as in many of the others made by two of your
committees.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX.
B. No. 1. *
Copy of a Letter from the Governor- General to the
Court of Directors.
To the Honorable the Court of Directors of the
Honorable United East India Company.
FORT WILLIAM, 29th November, 1780.
HONORABLE SIRS,You will be informed by our Consultations of the
26th of June of a very unusual tender which was
made by me to the board on that day, for the purpose of indemnifying the Company for the extraordinary expense which might be incurred by supplying the detachment under the command of Major Camac
in the invasion of the Mahratta dominions, which lay
beyond the district of Gohud, and drawing the attention of Mahdajee Sindia, to whom that country immediately appertained, from General Goddard, while his was employed in the reduction of Bassein, and in
securing the conquests made by your arms in Guzerat. I was desirous to remove the only objection
which has been or could be ostensibly made to the
* As the Appendixes originally printed with the foregoing Reports, and which consist chiefly of official documents, would have
swelled this volume to an enormous size, it has been thought proper
to omit them, with the exception of the first nine numbers of the
Appendix B.
to the Eleventh Report, the insertion of which has
been judged necessary for the elucidation of the subject-matter of
that Report.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 289
measure, which I had very much at heart, as may
be easily conceived from the means which I took to
effect it. For the reasons at large which induced me
to propose that diversion, it will be sufficient to refer
to my minute recommending it, and to the letters
received from Gieneral Goddard near the same period
of time. The subject is now become obsolete, and
all the fair hopes which I had built upon the prosecution of the Mahratta war, of its termination in
a speedy, honorable, and advantageous peace, have
been blasted by the dreadful calamities which have
befallen your arms in the dependencies of your Presidency of Fort St. George, and changed the object of' our pursuit from the aggrandizement of your power
to its preservation. My present reason for reverting
to my own conduct on the occasion which I have
mentioned is to obviate the false conclusions or purposed misrepresentations which may be made of it, either as an artifice of ostentation or as the effect of
corrupt influence, by assuring you that the money,
by whatever means it came into your possession, was
not my own, -- that I had myself no right to it,
nor would or could have received it, but for the
occasion which prompted me to avail myself of the
accidental means which were at that instant afforded
me of accepting and converting it to the property and
use of the Company; and with this brief apology I
shall dismiss the subject.
Something of affinity to this anecdote may appear
in the first aspect of another transaction, which I shall
proceed to relate, and of which it is more immediately my duty to inform you.
You will have been advised, by repeated addresses
of this government, of the arrival of an army at CutVOL. VIII. 19
? ? ? ? 290 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
tack, under the command of Chimnajee Boosla, the
second son of Moodajee Boosla, the Rajah of Berar.
The origin and destination of this force have been
largely explained and detailed in the correspondence
of the government of Berar, and in various parts of
our Consultations. The minute relation of these
would exceed the bounds of a letter; I shall therefore confine myself to the principal fact.
About the middle of the last year, a plan of confederacy was formed by the Nabob Nizam Ali Khan, by which it was proposed, that, while the army of the
Mahrattas, under the command of Mahdajee Sindia
and Tuckoojee Hoolkar, was employed to check the
operations of General Goddard inll the West of India,
Hyder Ali Khan should invade the Carnatic, Moodajee Boosla the provinces of Bengal, and he himself the Circars of Rajamundry and Chicacole.
The government of Berar was required to accept
the part assigned it in this combination, and to
march a large body of troops immediately into Bengal. To enforce the request on the part of the ruling member of the Mahratta state, menaces of instant hostility by the combined forces were added by Mahdajee Sindia, Tuckoojee Hoolkar, and Nizam Ali
Khan, in letters written by them to Moodajee Boosla on the occasion. He was not in a state to sus
tail the brunt of so formidable a league, and ostensibly yielded. Such at least was the turn which he
gave to his acquiescence, in his letters to me; and
his subsequent conduct has justified his professions.
I was early and progressively acquainted by him
with the requisition, and with the measures which
were intended to be taken, and which were taken, by
him upon it. The army professedly destined for Ben
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 291
gal marched on the Dusserra of the last year, corresponding with the 7th of October. Instead of taking the direct course to Bahar, which had been pre.
scribed, it proceeded by varied deviations and studied delays to Cuttack, where it arrived late in May
last, having performed a practicable journey of three
months in seven, and concluded it at the instant commencement of the rains, which of course would preclude its operations, and afford the government of
Berar a further interval of five months to provide for
the part which it would then be compelled to choose.
In the mean time letters were continually written
by the Rajah and his minister to this government,
explanatory of their situation and motives, proposing
their mediation and guaranty for a peace and alliance with the Peshwa, and professing, without solicitation on our part, the most friendly disposition towards us, and the most determined resolution to maintain it. Conformably to these assurances, and
the acceptance of a proposal made by Moodajee Boosla to depute his minister to Bengal for the purpose
of negotiating and concluding the proposed treaty of
peace, application had been made to the Peshwa for
credentials to the same effect.
In the mean time the fatal news arrived of the defeat of your army at Conjeveram. It now became
necessary that every other object should give place or
be made subservient to the preservation of the Carnatic; nor would the measures requisite for that end
admit an instant of delay. Peace with the Mahrattas was the first object; to conciliate their alliance,
and that of every other power in natural enmity
with Ilyder Ali, the next. Instant measures were
taken (as our general advices will inform you) to se
? ? ? ? 292 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
cure both these points, and to employ the government of Berar as the channel and instrument of ac.
complishing them. Its army still lay on our borders,
and in distress for a long arrear of pay, not less occasioned by the want of pecuniary funds than a stoppage of communication. An application had been made to us for a supply of money; and the sum
specified for the complete relief of the army was sixteen lacs. We had neither money to spare, nor, ill
the apparent state of that government in its relation
to ours, would it have been either prudent or consistent with our public credit to have afforded it. It
was nevertheless my decided opinion that some aid
should be given,- not less as a necessary relief than
as an indication of confidence, and a return for the
many instances of substantial kindness which we had
within the course of the last two years experienced
from the government of Berar. I had an assurance
that such a proposal would receive the acquiescence
of the board; but I knew that it would not pass
without opposition, and it would have become public,
which might have defeated its purpose. Convinced
of the necessity of the expedient, and assured of the
sincerity of the government of Berar, from evidences
of stronger proof to me than I could make them appear to the other members of the board, I resolved to
adopt it, and take the entire responsibility of it upon
myself. In this mode a less considerable sum would
suffice. I accordingly caused three lacs of rupees to be
delivered to the minister of the Rajah of Berar, resident in Calcutta: he has transmitted it to Cuttack.
Two thirds of this sum I have raised by my own
credit, and shall charge it in my official accounts;
the other third I have supplied from the cash in my
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 293
hands belonging to the Honorable Company. I have
given due notice to Moodajee Boosla of this transaction, and explained it to have been a private act of my own, unknown to the other members of the Council. I have given him expectations of the remainder of the amount required for the arrears of his army,
proportioned to the extent to which he may put it in
my power to propose it as a public gratuity by his
effectual orders for the recall of these troops, or for
their junction with ours.
I hope I shall receive your approbation of what I
have done for your service, and your indulgence for
the length of this narrative, which I could not comprise within a narrower compass.
I have the honor to be, Honorable Sirs,
Your most faithful, obedient,
and humble servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
? ? ? ? 294 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
B. No. 2.
An Account of 2Money paid into the Company's Treas. ury by the Governor-General, since the Year 1773.
May April CRs. 1774 to 1775. For interest bonds. . . For bills of exchange on the Court. . . 1,43,937
CRs. 2,175
For money refunded by
order of Court, account
General Coote's coinmission. . . . .
* Received 19th May,
Cancelled 30th July, 1774.
1775-1776. For bills of exchange on the Court.
1776-1777. Do.
1777-1778. Do.
1778 - 1779. Do.
1779-1780. Do.
1780-1781. For bills of exchange. 43,000 For deposits. 2,38,715
For interest bonds, at 8 per cent. . . . . 4,75,600 For do. 4 per cent. . . . . 1,66,000
For Durbar charges. 2,32,000 11,55,315
May, 1782. For interest bonds. . . . . . 20,94,725
(Errors excepted. )
JOHN ANNIS,
Auditor of Indian Accounts.
EAST INDIA HOUSE, 11th June, 1783.
35,000
1,80,480 do. do. 1,96,800
do. do. . 1,08,000 do. do. . 1,43,000 do. do. 1,21,600
8,418
1,54,530
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 295
B. No. 3.
To the Honorable the Secret Committee of the
Honorable Court of Directors.
FORT WILLIAM, 22d May, 1782.
HONORABLE SIRS, -
In a letter which I have had the honor to address
you in duplicate, and of which a triplicate accompanies this, dated 20th January, 1782, I informed you
that I had received the offer of a sum of money from
the Nabob Vizier and his ministers to the nominal
amount of ten lacs of Lucknow siccas, and that bills
on the house of Gopaul Doss had been actually given
me for the amount, which I had accepted for the use
of the Honorable Company; and I promised to account with you for the same as soon as it should be
in my power, after the whole sum had come into my
possession. This promise I now perform; and deeming it consistent with the spirit of it, I have added
such other sums as have been occasionally converted
to the Company's property through my means, and
in consequence of the like original destination. Of
the second of these you have been already advised in
a letter which I had the honor to address the Honorable Court of Directors, dated 29th November,
1780. Both this and the third article were paid immediately to the Treasury, by my order to the subtreasurer to receive them on the Company's account, but never passed through my hands. The three
sums for which bonds were granted were in like
manner paid to the Company's Treasury without
passing through my hands; but their appropriation
was not specified. The sum of 58,000 current ru
? ? ? ? 296 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
pees was received while I was on my journey to Benares, and applied as expressed in the account.
As to the manner in which these sums have been
expended, the reference which I have made of it, in
the accompanying account, to the several accounts in
which they are credited, renders any other specifica.
tion of it unnecessary; besides that those accounts
either have or will have received a much stronger authentication than any that I could give to mine. Why these sums were taken by me, - why they
were, except the second, quietly transferred to the
Company's use, - why bonds were taken for the first,
and not for the rest, - might, were this matter to be
exposed to the view of the public, furnish a variety of
conjectures, to which it would be of little use to reply.
Were your Honorable Court to question me upon
these points, I would answer, that the sums were taken for the Company's benefit at times in which the Company very much needed them, -that I either
chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which my memory
could at this distance of time verify, and that I did
not think it worth my care to observe the same means
with the rest. I trust, Honorable Sirs, to your breasts
for a candid interpretation of my actions, and assume
the freedom to add, that i think myself, on such a subject, and on such an occasion, entitled to it.
I have the honor to be, Honorable Sirs,
Your most faithful, most obedient,
and most humble servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 297
B. No. 4.
An Account of Sums received on the Account of the
Honorable Company by the Governor-General, or
paid to their Treasury by his Order, and applied to
their Service.
1780.
October.
The following sums were paid into
the Treasury, and bonds granted for the same,
in the name of the Governor-General, in
whose possession the bonds remain, with a
declaration upon each indorsed and signed by
him, that he has no claim on the Company for
the amount either of principal or interest, no
part of the latter having been received:
One bond, dated the 1st October,
1780, No. 1539. . . . . . 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. .
that, " in the late proceedings of the Revenue Board,
it will appear that there is no species of peculation
from which the Honorable Governor-General has
thought proper to abstain. " A charge of offences of
so heinous a nature, so very extensive, so very deliberate, made on record by persons of great weight,
appointed by act of Parliament his associates in the
highest trust, - a charge made at his own board, to
his own face, and transmitted to their common superiors, to whom they were jointly and severally accountable, this was not a thing to be passed over by
Mr. Hastings; still less ought it to have perished in
other hands. It ought to have been brought to an
immediate and strict discussion. General Clavering,
Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis ought to have been
punished for a groundless accusation, if such it had
been. If the accusation were founded, Mr. Hastings
was very unfit for the high office of Governor-General,
or for any office.
After this comprehensive account by his colleagues
of the Governor-General's conduct, these gentlemen
proceeded to the particulars, and they produced the
case of a corrupt bargain of Mr. Hastings concerning the disposition of office. This transaction is here
stated by your Committee in a very concise manner,
being on this occasion merely intended to point out
to the House the absolute necessity which, in their
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 277
opinion, exists for another sort of inquiry into the
corruptions of men in power in India than hitherto
has been pursued. The proceedings may be found at
large in the Appendix.
A complaint was made that Mr. Hastings had sold
the office of Phousdar of Hoogly to a person called
Khan Jehan Khan on a corrupt agreement, - which
was, that from his emoluments of seventy-two thousand rupees a year he was to pay to the GovernorGeneral thirty-six thousand rupees annually, and to
his banian, Cantoo Baboo, four thousand more. The
complainant offers to pay to the Company the forty
thousand rupees which were corruptly paid to these
gentlemen, and to content himself with the allowance of thirty-two thousand. Mr. Hastings was, if on
any occasion of his life, strongly called upon to bring
this matter to the most distinct issue; and Mr. Barwell, who supported his administration, and as such
ought to have been tender for his honor, was bound
to help him to get to the bottom of it, if his enemies
should be ungenerous enough to countenance such
an accusation without permitting it to be detected
and exposed. But the course they held was directly contrary. They began by an objection to receive the complaint, in which they obstinately persevered as far as their power went. Mr. Barwell was of opinion that the Company's instructions to inquire
into peculation were intended for the public interests, - that it could not forward the public interests
to enter into these inquiries, - and that " he never
would be a channel of aspersing any character, while
it cannot conduce to the good of government. " Here
was a new mode of reasoning found out by Mr. Barwell, which might subject all inquiry into peculation
? ? ? ? 278 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
to the discretion of the very persons charged with
it. By that reasoning all orders of his superiors were
at his mercy; and he actually undertook to set aside
those commands which by an express act of Parliament he was bound to obey, on his opinion of what
would or would not conduce to the good of government. On his principles, he either totally annihilates the authority of the act of Parliament, or he
entertains so extravagant a supposition as that the
Court of Directors possessed a more absolute authority, when their orders were not intended for the public good, than when they were.
General Clavering was of a different opinion. He
thought " he should be wanting to the legislature,
and to the Court of Directors, if he was not to receive
the complaints of the inhabitants, when properly authenticated, and to prefer them to the board for investigation, as the only means by which these grievances can be redressed, ahd the Company informed of the conduct of their servants. "
To these sentiments Colonel Monson and Mr.
Francis adhered. Mr. Hastings thought it more safe,
on principles similar to those assumed by Mr. Barwell, to refuse to hear the charge; but he reserved
his remarks on this transaction, because they will be
equally applicable to many others which in the course
of this business are likely to be brought before the board.
There appeared, therefore, to him a probability that
the charge about the corrupt bargain was no more
than the commencement of a whole class of such accusations; since he was of opinion (and what is very
extraordinary, previous to any examination) that the
same remarks would be applicable to several of those
which were to follow. He must suppose this class of
charges very uniform, as well as very extensive.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 279
The majority, however, pressed their point; and
notwithstanding his opposition to all inquiry, as he
was supported only by Mr. Barwell, the question for
it was carried. He was then desired to name a day
for the appearance of the accuser, and the institution
of the inquiry. Though baffled in his attempt to
stop the inquiry in the first stage, Mr. Hastings made
a second stand. He seems here to have recollected
something inherent in his own office, that put the
matter more in his power than at first he had imagined; for he speaks in a positive and commanding
tone: " I will not," says his minute, " name a day for
Mir Zin ul ab Dien to appear before the board; nor
will I suffer him to appear before the board. "
The question for the inquiry had been carried; it
was declared fit to inquire; but there was, according
to him, a power which might prevent the appearance
of witnesses. On the general policy of obstructing
such inquiries, Mr. Francis, on a motion to that effect, made a sound remark, which cannot fail of giving rise to very serious thoughts: "' That, supposing it agreed among ourselves that the board shall not
hear any charges or complaints against a member of
it, a case or cases may hereafter happen, in which,
by a reciprocal complaisance to each other, our respective misconduct may be effectually screened from
inquiry; and the Company, whose interest is concerned, or the parties who may have reason to complain of any one member individually, may be left without remedy. "
Mr. Barwell was not of the opinion of that gentleman, nor of the maker of the motion, General Clavering, nor of Mr. Monson, who supported it. He entertains sentiments with regard to the orders of
? ? ? ? 280 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
the Directors in this particular perfectly correspondent with those which he had given against the original inquiry. He says, " Though it may in some little degree save the Governor-General from personal insult, where there is no judicial power lodged, that
of inquisition can never answer any good purpose. "
This is doctrine of a most extraordinary nature and
tendency, and, as your Committee conceive, contrary
to every sound principle to be observed in the constitution of judicatures and inquisitions. The power
of inquisition ought rather to be wholly separated
from the judicial, the former being a previous step to
the latter, which requires other rules and methods,
and ought not, if possible, to be lodged in the same
hands. The rest of his minute (contained in the Ap
pendix) is filled with a censure on the native inhabitants, with reflections on the ill consequences which
would arise from an attention to their complaints,
and with an assertion of the authority of the Supreme
Court, as superseding the necessity and propriety of
such inquiries in Council. With regard to his principles relative to the natives and their complaints, if
they are admitted, they are of a tendency to cut off
the very principle of redress. The existence of the
Supreme Court, as a means of relief to the natives
under all oppressions, is held out to qualify a refusal
to hear in the Council. On the same pretence, Mr.
Hastings holds up the authority of the same tribunal.
But this and other proceedings show abundantly of
what efficacy that court has been for the relief of the
unhappy people of Bengal. A person in delegated
authority refuses a satisfaction to his superiors,
throwing himself on a court of justice, and supposes
that nothing but what judicially appears against hini
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 281
is a fit subject of inquiry. But even in this Mr.
Hastings fails in his application of his principle; for
the majority of the Council were undoubtedly competent to order a prosecution against him in the Supreme Court, which they had no ground for without
a previous inquiry. But their inquiry had other objects. No private accuser might choose to appear.
The party who was the subject of the peculation
might be (as here is stated) the accomplice in it.
No popular action or popular suit was provided by the
charter under whose authority the court was instituted. In any event, a suit might fail in the court for
the punishment of an actor in an abuse for want of
the strictest legal proof, which might yet furnish matter for the correction of the abuse, and even reasons
strong enough not only to justify, but to require, the
Director's instantly to address for the removal of a
Governor-General. -The opposition of Mr. Hastings
and Mr. Barwell proved as ineffectual in this stage
as the former; and a day was named by the majority
for the attendance of the party.
The day following this deliberation, on the assembling of the Council, the Governor-General, Mr. Hastings, said, " he would not sit to be confronted by such accusers, nor to suffer a judicial inquiry into his conduct at the board of which he is the president" As
on the former occasions, he declares the board dissolved. As on the former occasions, the majority did
not admit his claim to this power; they proceeded in
his absence to examine the accuser and witnesses.
Their proceedings are in Appendix K.
It is remarkable, that, during this transaction, Khan
Jehan Kha'n, the party with whom the corrupt agreement was made, declined an attendance under ex
? ? ? ? 282 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COlMMITTEE
cuses which the majority thought pretences for delay,
though they used no compulsory methods towards
his appearance. At length, however, he did appear,
and then a step was taken by Mr. Hastings of a very
extraordinary nature, after the steps which he had
taken before, and the declarations with which those
steps had been accompanied. Mr. Hastings, who had
absolutely refused to be present in the foregoing part
of the proceeding, appeared with Khan Jehan Khan.
And now the affair took another turn; other obstructions were raised. General Clavering said that the informations hitherto taken had proceeded upon oath.
Kha'n Jehan KhaIn had previously declared to General
Clavering his readiness to be so examined; but when
called upon by the board, he changed his mind, and
alleged a delicacy, relative to his rank, with regard to
the oath. In this scruple he was strongly supported
by Mr. Hastings. He and Mr. Barwell went further:
they contended that the Council had no right to administer an oath. They must have been very clear
in that opinion, when they resisted the examination
on oath of the very person who, if he could safely
swear to Mr. Hastings's innocence, owed it as a debt
to his patron not to refuse it; and of the payment of
this debt it was extraordinary in the patron not only
to enforce, but to support, the absolute refusal.
Although the majority did not acquiesce in this doctrine, they appeared to have doubts of the prudence of enforcing it by violent means; but, construing his
refusal into a disposition to screen the peculations of
the Governor-General, they treated him as guilty of a
contempt of their board, dismissed him from the service, and recommended another (not the accuser) to his office.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 283
The reasons on both sides appear in the Appendix.
Mr. Hastings accuses them bitterly of injustice to himself in considering the refusal of this person to swear
as a charge proved. How far they did so, and under
what qualifications, will appear by reference to the
papers in the Appendix. But Mr. Hastings " thanks
God that they are not his judges. " His great hold,
and not without reason, is the Supreme Court: and
he "' blesses the wisdom of Parliament, that constituted a court of judicature at so seasonable a time,
to check the despotism of the new Council. " It was
thought in England that the court had other objects
than the protection of the Governor-General against
the examinations of those sent out with instructions
to inquire into the peculations of men in power.
Though Mr. Hastings did at that time, and avowedly did, everything to prevent any inquiry that
was instituted merely for the information of the
Court of Directors, yet he did not feel hintself
thoroughly satisfied with his own proceedings. It
was evident that to them his and Mr. Barwell's
reasonings would not appear very respectful or sat
isfactory; he therefore promises to give them full
satisfaction at some future time. In his letter of
the 14th of September, 1775, he reiterates a former
declaration, and assures them of his resolution to this
purpose in the strongest terms. " I now again recur
to the declaration which I have before made, that it
is my fixed determination to carry literally into execution, and most fully and liberally explain every circumstance of my conduct on the points upon which 1 have been injuriously arraigned, - and to afford you
the clearest conviction of my own integrity, and of
the propriety of my motives for my declining a present defence of it. "
? ? ? ? 284 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
These motives, as far as they can be discovered,
were the violence of his adversaries, the interested
character and views of the accuser, and the danger
of a prosecution in the Supreme Court, which made
it prudent to reserve his defence. These arguments
are applicable to ally charge. Notwithstanding these
reasons, it is plain by the above letter that lie thought
himself bound at some time or other to give satisfaction to his masters: till he should do this, in his own opinion, he remained in an unpleasant situation. But
he bore his misfortune, it seems, patiently, with a confidence in their justice for his future relief. He says, " Whatever evil may fill the long interval which may
precede it. " That interval he has taken care to make
long enough; for near eight years are now elapsed,
and he has not yet taken the smallest step towards giving to the Court of Directors any explanation whatever, much less that full and liberal explanation which he had so repeatedly and solemnly promised. It is to be observed, that, though Mr. Hastings
talks in these letters much of his integrity, and of
the purity of his motives, and of full explanations, he
nowhere denies the fact of this corrupt traffic of office.
Though he had adjourned his defence, with so much
pain to himself, to so very long a day, he was not so
inattentive to the ease of Khan Jehan Khan as he
has shown himself to his own. He had been accused
of corruptly reserving to himself a part of the emoluments of this man's office; it was a delicate business to handle, whilst his defence stood adjourned; yet, in a very short time after a majority came into his hands, he turned out the person appointed by
General Clavering, &c. , and replaced the very man
with whom lie stood accused of the corrupt bargaiin;
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 285
what was worse, he had been charged with originally turning out another, to make room for this man. The whole is put in strong terms by the then majority of the Council, where, after charging him with every species of peculation, they add, "We believe
the proofs of his appropriating four parts in seven of
the salary with which the Company is charged for
the Phousdar of Hoogly are such as, whether sufficient or not to convict him in a court of justice, will not leave the shadow of a doubt concerning his guilt
in the mind of any unprejudiced person. The salary
is seventy-two thousand rupees a year; the Governor
takes thirty-six thousand, and allows Cantoo Baboo
four thousand more for the trouble he submits to in
conducting the negotiation with the Phousdar. This
also is the common subject of conversation and derision through the whole settlement. It is our firm opinion and belief, that the late Phousdar of Hoogly,
a relation of Mahomed Reza Khan, was turned out
of this office merely because his terms were not so
favorable as those which the Honorable GovernorGeneral has obtained from the present Phousdar. The Honorable Governor-General is pleased to assert,
with a confidential spirit peculiar to himself, that his
measures hitherto stand unimpeached, except by us.
We know not how this assertion is to be made good,
unless the most daring and flagrant prostitution in
every branch be deemed an honor to his administration. "
The whole style and tenor of these accusations, as
well as the nature of them, rendered Mr. Hastings's
first postponing, and afterwards totally declining, all
denial, or even defence or explanation, very extraordinary. No Governor ought to hear in silence such
? ? ? ? 286 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
charges; and no Court of Directors ought to have
slept upon them.
The Court of Directors were not wholly inattentive
to this business. They condemned his act as it deserved, and they went into the business of his legal right to dissolve the Council. Their opinions seemed
against it, and they gave precise orders against the use of any such power in future. On consulting Mr. Sayer, the Company's counsel, he was of a different opinion with regard to the legal right; but he thought, very properly, that the use of a right, and the manner and purposes for which it was used, ought not to have been separated. What he thought on this occasion appears in his opinion transmitted by the Court of Directors to Mr. Hastings and the Council-General.
" But it was as great a crime to dissolve the Council
upon base and sinister motives as it would be to assume
the power of dissolving, if he had it not. I believe
he is the first governor that ever dissolved a council
inquiring into his behavior, when he was innocent.
Before he could summon three councils and dissolve
them, he had time fully to consider what would be
the result of such conduct, to convince everybody,
beyond a doubt, of his conscious guilt. "
It was a matter but of small consolation to Mr.
Hastings, during the painful interval he describes, to
find that the Company's learned counsel admitted
that he had legal powers of which he made an use
that raised an universal presumption of his guilt.
Other counsel did not think so favorably of the
powers themselves. But this matter was of less consequence, because a great difference of opinion may arise concerning the extent of official powers, even
among men professionally educated, (as in this case
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 287
such a difference did arise,) and well-intentioned
men may take either part. But the use that was
made of it, in systematical contradiction to the Company's orders, has been stated in the Ninth Report, as well as in many of the others made by two of your
committees.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX.
B. No. 1. *
Copy of a Letter from the Governor- General to the
Court of Directors.
To the Honorable the Court of Directors of the
Honorable United East India Company.
FORT WILLIAM, 29th November, 1780.
HONORABLE SIRS,You will be informed by our Consultations of the
26th of June of a very unusual tender which was
made by me to the board on that day, for the purpose of indemnifying the Company for the extraordinary expense which might be incurred by supplying the detachment under the command of Major Camac
in the invasion of the Mahratta dominions, which lay
beyond the district of Gohud, and drawing the attention of Mahdajee Sindia, to whom that country immediately appertained, from General Goddard, while his was employed in the reduction of Bassein, and in
securing the conquests made by your arms in Guzerat. I was desirous to remove the only objection
which has been or could be ostensibly made to the
* As the Appendixes originally printed with the foregoing Reports, and which consist chiefly of official documents, would have
swelled this volume to an enormous size, it has been thought proper
to omit them, with the exception of the first nine numbers of the
Appendix B.
to the Eleventh Report, the insertion of which has
been judged necessary for the elucidation of the subject-matter of
that Report.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 289
measure, which I had very much at heart, as may
be easily conceived from the means which I took to
effect it. For the reasons at large which induced me
to propose that diversion, it will be sufficient to refer
to my minute recommending it, and to the letters
received from Gieneral Goddard near the same period
of time. The subject is now become obsolete, and
all the fair hopes which I had built upon the prosecution of the Mahratta war, of its termination in
a speedy, honorable, and advantageous peace, have
been blasted by the dreadful calamities which have
befallen your arms in the dependencies of your Presidency of Fort St. George, and changed the object of' our pursuit from the aggrandizement of your power
to its preservation. My present reason for reverting
to my own conduct on the occasion which I have
mentioned is to obviate the false conclusions or purposed misrepresentations which may be made of it, either as an artifice of ostentation or as the effect of
corrupt influence, by assuring you that the money,
by whatever means it came into your possession, was
not my own, -- that I had myself no right to it,
nor would or could have received it, but for the
occasion which prompted me to avail myself of the
accidental means which were at that instant afforded
me of accepting and converting it to the property and
use of the Company; and with this brief apology I
shall dismiss the subject.
Something of affinity to this anecdote may appear
in the first aspect of another transaction, which I shall
proceed to relate, and of which it is more immediately my duty to inform you.
You will have been advised, by repeated addresses
of this government, of the arrival of an army at CutVOL. VIII. 19
? ? ? ? 290 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
tack, under the command of Chimnajee Boosla, the
second son of Moodajee Boosla, the Rajah of Berar.
The origin and destination of this force have been
largely explained and detailed in the correspondence
of the government of Berar, and in various parts of
our Consultations. The minute relation of these
would exceed the bounds of a letter; I shall therefore confine myself to the principal fact.
About the middle of the last year, a plan of confederacy was formed by the Nabob Nizam Ali Khan, by which it was proposed, that, while the army of the
Mahrattas, under the command of Mahdajee Sindia
and Tuckoojee Hoolkar, was employed to check the
operations of General Goddard inll the West of India,
Hyder Ali Khan should invade the Carnatic, Moodajee Boosla the provinces of Bengal, and he himself the Circars of Rajamundry and Chicacole.
The government of Berar was required to accept
the part assigned it in this combination, and to
march a large body of troops immediately into Bengal. To enforce the request on the part of the ruling member of the Mahratta state, menaces of instant hostility by the combined forces were added by Mahdajee Sindia, Tuckoojee Hoolkar, and Nizam Ali
Khan, in letters written by them to Moodajee Boosla on the occasion. He was not in a state to sus
tail the brunt of so formidable a league, and ostensibly yielded. Such at least was the turn which he
gave to his acquiescence, in his letters to me; and
his subsequent conduct has justified his professions.
I was early and progressively acquainted by him
with the requisition, and with the measures which
were intended to be taken, and which were taken, by
him upon it. The army professedly destined for Ben
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 291
gal marched on the Dusserra of the last year, corresponding with the 7th of October. Instead of taking the direct course to Bahar, which had been pre.
scribed, it proceeded by varied deviations and studied delays to Cuttack, where it arrived late in May
last, having performed a practicable journey of three
months in seven, and concluded it at the instant commencement of the rains, which of course would preclude its operations, and afford the government of
Berar a further interval of five months to provide for
the part which it would then be compelled to choose.
In the mean time letters were continually written
by the Rajah and his minister to this government,
explanatory of their situation and motives, proposing
their mediation and guaranty for a peace and alliance with the Peshwa, and professing, without solicitation on our part, the most friendly disposition towards us, and the most determined resolution to maintain it. Conformably to these assurances, and
the acceptance of a proposal made by Moodajee Boosla to depute his minister to Bengal for the purpose
of negotiating and concluding the proposed treaty of
peace, application had been made to the Peshwa for
credentials to the same effect.
In the mean time the fatal news arrived of the defeat of your army at Conjeveram. It now became
necessary that every other object should give place or
be made subservient to the preservation of the Carnatic; nor would the measures requisite for that end
admit an instant of delay. Peace with the Mahrattas was the first object; to conciliate their alliance,
and that of every other power in natural enmity
with Ilyder Ali, the next. Instant measures were
taken (as our general advices will inform you) to se
? ? ? ? 292 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
cure both these points, and to employ the government of Berar as the channel and instrument of ac.
complishing them. Its army still lay on our borders,
and in distress for a long arrear of pay, not less occasioned by the want of pecuniary funds than a stoppage of communication. An application had been made to us for a supply of money; and the sum
specified for the complete relief of the army was sixteen lacs. We had neither money to spare, nor, ill
the apparent state of that government in its relation
to ours, would it have been either prudent or consistent with our public credit to have afforded it. It
was nevertheless my decided opinion that some aid
should be given,- not less as a necessary relief than
as an indication of confidence, and a return for the
many instances of substantial kindness which we had
within the course of the last two years experienced
from the government of Berar. I had an assurance
that such a proposal would receive the acquiescence
of the board; but I knew that it would not pass
without opposition, and it would have become public,
which might have defeated its purpose. Convinced
of the necessity of the expedient, and assured of the
sincerity of the government of Berar, from evidences
of stronger proof to me than I could make them appear to the other members of the board, I resolved to
adopt it, and take the entire responsibility of it upon
myself. In this mode a less considerable sum would
suffice. I accordingly caused three lacs of rupees to be
delivered to the minister of the Rajah of Berar, resident in Calcutta: he has transmitted it to Cuttack.
Two thirds of this sum I have raised by my own
credit, and shall charge it in my official accounts;
the other third I have supplied from the cash in my
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 293
hands belonging to the Honorable Company. I have
given due notice to Moodajee Boosla of this transaction, and explained it to have been a private act of my own, unknown to the other members of the Council. I have given him expectations of the remainder of the amount required for the arrears of his army,
proportioned to the extent to which he may put it in
my power to propose it as a public gratuity by his
effectual orders for the recall of these troops, or for
their junction with ours.
I hope I shall receive your approbation of what I
have done for your service, and your indulgence for
the length of this narrative, which I could not comprise within a narrower compass.
I have the honor to be, Honorable Sirs,
Your most faithful, obedient,
and humble servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
? ? ? ? 294 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
B. No. 2.
An Account of 2Money paid into the Company's Treas. ury by the Governor-General, since the Year 1773.
May April CRs. 1774 to 1775. For interest bonds. . . For bills of exchange on the Court. . . 1,43,937
CRs. 2,175
For money refunded by
order of Court, account
General Coote's coinmission. . . . .
* Received 19th May,
Cancelled 30th July, 1774.
1775-1776. For bills of exchange on the Court.
1776-1777. Do.
1777-1778. Do.
1778 - 1779. Do.
1779-1780. Do.
1780-1781. For bills of exchange. 43,000 For deposits. 2,38,715
For interest bonds, at 8 per cent. . . . . 4,75,600 For do. 4 per cent. . . . . 1,66,000
For Durbar charges. 2,32,000 11,55,315
May, 1782. For interest bonds. . . . . . 20,94,725
(Errors excepted. )
JOHN ANNIS,
Auditor of Indian Accounts.
EAST INDIA HOUSE, 11th June, 1783.
35,000
1,80,480 do. do. 1,96,800
do. do. . 1,08,000 do. do. . 1,43,000 do. do. 1,21,600
8,418
1,54,530
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 295
B. No. 3.
To the Honorable the Secret Committee of the
Honorable Court of Directors.
FORT WILLIAM, 22d May, 1782.
HONORABLE SIRS, -
In a letter which I have had the honor to address
you in duplicate, and of which a triplicate accompanies this, dated 20th January, 1782, I informed you
that I had received the offer of a sum of money from
the Nabob Vizier and his ministers to the nominal
amount of ten lacs of Lucknow siccas, and that bills
on the house of Gopaul Doss had been actually given
me for the amount, which I had accepted for the use
of the Honorable Company; and I promised to account with you for the same as soon as it should be
in my power, after the whole sum had come into my
possession. This promise I now perform; and deeming it consistent with the spirit of it, I have added
such other sums as have been occasionally converted
to the Company's property through my means, and
in consequence of the like original destination. Of
the second of these you have been already advised in
a letter which I had the honor to address the Honorable Court of Directors, dated 29th November,
1780. Both this and the third article were paid immediately to the Treasury, by my order to the subtreasurer to receive them on the Company's account, but never passed through my hands. The three
sums for which bonds were granted were in like
manner paid to the Company's Treasury without
passing through my hands; but their appropriation
was not specified. The sum of 58,000 current ru
? ? ? ? 296 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
pees was received while I was on my journey to Benares, and applied as expressed in the account.
As to the manner in which these sums have been
expended, the reference which I have made of it, in
the accompanying account, to the several accounts in
which they are credited, renders any other specifica.
tion of it unnecessary; besides that those accounts
either have or will have received a much stronger authentication than any that I could give to mine. Why these sums were taken by me, - why they
were, except the second, quietly transferred to the
Company's use, - why bonds were taken for the first,
and not for the rest, - might, were this matter to be
exposed to the view of the public, furnish a variety of
conjectures, to which it would be of little use to reply.
Were your Honorable Court to question me upon
these points, I would answer, that the sums were taken for the Company's benefit at times in which the Company very much needed them, -that I either
chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which my memory
could at this distance of time verify, and that I did
not think it worth my care to observe the same means
with the rest. I trust, Honorable Sirs, to your breasts
for a candid interpretation of my actions, and assume
the freedom to add, that i think myself, on such a subject, and on such an occasion, entitled to it.
I have the honor to be, Honorable Sirs,
Your most faithful, most obedient,
and most humble servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 297
B. No. 4.
An Account of Sums received on the Account of the
Honorable Company by the Governor-General, or
paid to their Treasury by his Order, and applied to
their Service.
1780.
October.
The following sums were paid into
the Treasury, and bonds granted for the same,
in the name of the Governor-General, in
whose possession the bonds remain, with a
declaration upon each indorsed and signed by
him, that he has no claim on the Company for
the amount either of principal or interest, no
part of the latter having been received:
One bond, dated the 1st October,
1780, No. 1539. . . . . . 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. .
