No More Learning

THAT it was the declared policy of the Company, on the acquisition of the dewanny of Bengal, to
contilue the country government, under the inspection of the Resident at the Nabob's durbar in the first
instalce, and that of the President and Council in
the last; and for that purpose they did stipulate to
assign, for the suplport of the digllity of the Nabob,
an annlual allowance from the revenues, equal to four
hundred thousand pounds a year.
II. That, during the coulltry government, the principal active person in the administl'ation of affairs, for
rank, and for reputation of probity, aldc of knowledge
in the revenues and the laws, was Mabhomlled Reza
KhIall, who, besides large landed property, was possessed of' offices Avlose emoluments amounted nearly,
if not altogether, to one hundred thousand pounds a
year.
IV. - That the Company's servants, in the beginning, were not conversant in the affairs of the revenue, and stood ill lneed of natives of integrity and experience to act in the manacgement tlleeof. On that ground, as well as ill regard to thle rank which Mahomned Reza K. han held in the country, and the confidence of the people in him, tlhey, tlhe President and
Cotncil, did intform the Cotrt of Directors, in their
letter of the 30thll of September, 1765, that, " as Mahomed Reza ^Khanli's short administration was irreproachable, they determined to continue him in' a
share of the authority"; and this information was
not given lightly, but was founded upon an inquiry
Sic orig.
? ? ? ? 180 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
into hlis conlduct, and a minute examination of charges
made against him by his'rivals in the Nabob's court,
-- they having insinuated to the Nabob that a design
was formed for deposing him, and placing Mahomed
Reza on his throne; but; on examination, the President and Council declare, that "he had so openly and candidly accounted for every rupee disbursed from
the treasury, that they could not, without injury to
his character, and injustice to his conduct during his
short administration, refuse continuing him in a share
of the government. "
V. That the Company. had reason to be satisfied
with the arrangement made, so far as it regarded
him: the President and Council having informed
them, in the following year, in their letter of the 9th
of December, 1766, that " the larye increase of the
revenue must in a great measure be ascribed to Mr.
Sykes's assiduity, and to 1Mahonmed Reza. Khdn's profound knowledge in th7e finances. "
VI. That the then President and Council, finding
it necessary to make several reforms in the administration, were principally aided in the same by'the snggestion, advice, and assistance of the said Mahomed Reza Khan; and in their letter to the Court of Directors of the 24th of June, 1767, they state
their resolution of reducing the emoluments of office,
which before had arisen from a variety of presents
and other perquisities, to fixed allowances; anlldthey
state the merits of Mahomned Reza Khan':therein, as
well as the importance, dignity, and responsibility of
his station, in the following manner.
"Mahomed Reza Khaln has now of himself, with
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 181
great delicacy of honor, represented to us the evil coilsequences that must ensue from the continuance of
this practice, -since, by suffering the principal officers of the government to depend for the support of
their dignity on the precarious fund of perquisites,
they in a manner oblige them to pursue oppressive
and corrupt measures, equally injurious to the country and the Company; and'they accordingly assigned
twelve lac of rupees for the maintenance and support of the said Mahomed Reza Khan, and two other
principal persons, who held in their hands the most
important employments of that government, - having
regard to their elevated stations, and to the expediency of supporting them in all the show and parade
requisite to. keep up the authority and influence of
their respective offices, as they are all men of weight
alid consideration in. the country, who held places of
great trust and profit'under the former government.
We further propose', by this act of generosity, to engage their cordial services, and confirm them steady
in our interests; since they cannot hope, from the
most successful ambition, to rise to greater advantages by any chance or revolution of affairs. At the
same time it was reasonable we should not lose sight
of Mahomed Reza Kha^n's past services. He has pursued the Company's interest with steadiness and diligence; his abilities qualify him to perform the most important services; the unavoidable charges of his
particular situation are great; in dignity he stands
second to the Nabob only; -- and as he engages to
increase the revenues, without injustice or oppression, to more than tlle'amount of his salary, and to
relinquish those advantages, to the amouv. t of eight lacs
of rupees per annum, which he heretofore enjoyed, we
? ? ? ? 182 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
thought it proper, in the distribution of salaries, to
consider Mahomed Reza Khfin in a light superior to
the other ministers. We have only to observe further, that, great and enormous as the sum must appear which we have allotted for the support of the minlisters of the government, we will not hesitate to
pronounce that it is. necessary and reasonable, and
will appear so on the consideration of the power
which men employed on these important services
have either to obstruct or promote the public good,
unless their integrity be confirmed by the ties of
gratitude and interest. "
VII. That the said Mallomed Reza Klchan continued, with the same diligence, spirit, and fidelity, to
execute the trust reposed in him, wlhich comprehended a large proportion of the weight of government, and particularly of the collections; and his attachment to the interest of the Coipatny, and his
extensive knowledge, were again, in the course of
the year 1767, fully acknowledged, and stated to the
Court of Directors. And it further appears that
by an incessant application to business his health
was considerably impaired, which. gave occasion in the
year following, that is, in Fcbruary, 1768, to a fiesh
acknowledgment of his services ini these terms: 1" We
must, in justice to Mahomed Reza KhIlan, express the
high sense we entertain of his abilities, and of the indefatigable attention he has shown ill the executioi
of the important trust reposed in him; and we cannot
but lament the prospect of losing his services from
the present declining state of his health. "
VIII. That as in the increase of the revenue the
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 183
said Mahomed Reza Khnll was employed as a person
likely to improve tlhe same without detriment to the
people, so, whlen thle state of any province seemed to
require a remission, he was employed as a person
disposed to'tlle relief of thle people without fraud. to
the revenue; and thlis was expressed by the Presidenlt and Coulicil as follows, with relatioin to the remissions granted ill the province of Blahar: " That
the general kinowledge of Mahomed Reza Khan, in
all matters relative to the dewanny revenues, induced
us to consent to such deductions being made from
the general state of that province at the last poonah
as may be deemed irrecoverable, or such as may procure an immediate relief and encouragement to the
ryots in the future cultivation of their lands. "
IX. That the said Mahomed Reza Khan, in the
execution of the said great and important trusts and
powers, was not so much as suspected of an ambitious
or encroaching spirit, which might make him dangerous to the Company's then recent authority, or which
might render his precedence injurious to the consideration due to his colleagues in office; but, on the contrary, it appears, that, a plan having been adopted for dividing the administration, in order to remove the
Nabob's jCeloutsies, tlle same was in danger of being
subverted b)y tlhe ambition. " of two of his colleagues,
and the ex:eessive mzoderation of Mahomed Reza Khdn. "
And for a remedy of the inconveniencies which might
arise from the excess of an accommodating temper,
though attended with irreproachable integrity, the
President and Council did send one of their ownl m'embers, as their deputy, to the Nabob of Bengal, at his
capital of Moorshedabad; and this measure appears to
? ? ? ? 184 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
have been adopted for the support of Mahomed Reza
Khan, ill consequence of an inquiry made and advice
given by Lord Clive, in his letter of the 3d of July,
1765, in which letter he expresses himself of the said
Mahomed Reza Khan as follows: " It is with pleasure
I can acquaint you, that, the more Isee of Mahomed Reza Khdn, the stronger is my conviction of his honor and moderation, but that, at the same time, I cannot help
observing, that, either from timidity or an erroneous
principle, he is too ready to submit to encroachments
upon that proportion of power that has been allotted
him. "
X. That, the Nabob Jaffier Ali Khan dying in
February, 1765, Mahomed Reza Khan was appointed guardian to his children, and administrator of his
office, or regent, which appointment the Court of
Directors did approve. But the party opposite to
Mahomed Reza Khan having continued to cabal
against him, sundry accusations were framed relative
to oppression at the time of the famine, and for a
balance due during his employment of collector of
the revenues; upon which the Directors did order
him to be deprived of his office, and a strict inquiry
to be made into his conduct.
XI. That the said Warren Hastings, then lately
appointed to the Presidency, did, on the 1st of April,
and on the 24th of September, 1772, write letters to
the Court of Directors, informing them that on the
very next day after he had received (as he asserts)
their private orders, "addressed to himself alone,"
and not to the board, he did dispatch, by express messengers, his orders to Mr. Middleton, the Resident at
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. :185
the Nabob's court at Moorshedabad, in a public character:and trust with the Nabob, to arrest, in his capital, and at his court, and without any previous notice given of any charge, his principal minister, the aforesaid: Mahlomed Reza Khan, and to bring him down to
Calcutta; and he did carefully conceal his said proceedings from the knowledge of the board, on pretext
of his not being acquainted with their dispositions,
and the influence which he thought that the said Mahomed Reza Khan had amongst them.
XII. That the said Warren Hastings, at the time
he gave his orders as aforesaid for arresting the said
Mahomed Reza Khan, did not take any measures to
compel the appearance of any other persons as witnesses,- declaring it as his opinion, "that there
would be little need of violence to obtain such intelligence as they could give against their former master,
when his authority is taken from him"; but he did
afterwards, in excuse for the long detention and imprisonment of the said Mahonmed Reza Khan, without
any proofs having been obtained of his guilt, or measures taken to bring him to a trial, assure the Directors,
in direct contradiction to his former declaration, " that
the influence of Mahomed Reza Khan still prevailed
generally throughout the country, in the Nabob's
household, and at the capital, and was scarcely affected by his present disgrace," -notwithstanding, as he,
the said Hastings, doth confess, he had used his utmost endeavors s" to break that influence, by removing his dependants, and putting the direction of all the affairs that had been committed to his care into
the hands of the most powerful or active of his enemies;
that he depended on the activity of their hatred to
? ? ? ? 186 ARTTCLES OF CHARGE
Mahomed Reza Khh^lln, incited by the expectation of
rewards, for investigati(ng the conduct of the latter;
that with this the institution of thle new dewanny
coincided; and that the same principle had guided
him ill the choice of Mnlllly 3Begiln and' Rajah
Gourdas, --the former for the chief administration,
the latter r" (tle sonl of Nundcomar, and a more instrument in thle lands of his fahiller) " for the dclewaliyv of tile NaT. lol)'s llousellold, - both the declared enemzies of Mniolned rPeza. lhahln. "L)
XIII. That, althoughl it might be true that enemllies will become thle most active prosecutors, and as
such may, though ll ndller much guard and maly precautions, be used evenc as witnesses, andl that it ought
not to be an exception, supposing their character and
capacity otherwise good, to the appointing them to
power, yet to advance persons to power on. the ground
not of their honor and integrity, which miglht have
produced the enmity of had men, but merely for the
enmity itself, without any -reference whatsoever to a
laudable cause, and even with a declared ill opinion
of the morals of onlle of the party, such as was actually
delivered in the said letter by him, the said Hastings,
of Nundcomar, (and whllich time has showni lie might
also on good glrould have conceived of otliors,) was,
in tlhe circumstances of a crimiilal inquiry, a motive
highlly disgracefl. to the holor of government, and
destructive of impartial justice, by holding out the
greatest of all possible temptatioll to false accusation,
to corrupt and factious collspiracies, to. pclrjry, and
to every species of injustice and oppression.
XIV. That, in consequence of thle aforesaid mo
? ? ? ? AGATNST WARREN HASTINGS. 187
tives, and others pretended, wllich were by no means
a sufficient justification to the said Warren Hastinlgs,
lie did appoint the woman aforesaid, ca~lled Munny
Begum, who had b)eti of the lowest and most discreditable order in society, accordilng to thle ideas preva~lent in India, but froml whom he received several sums of money, to be guardian to the Nabob in preferelnce to his own mother, and to accldmini. ster the cfcilrs
qf the govcrnmCent in the place of' the said Mahomled
Reza IKthln, the seconed Mussulman in rank after the
Nabob, and the first in knowledg'e, gravity, weight,
and character amonlg the Mussulmen1 of that proviince.
And in order to try every mothod a. nd to take every
chance for his destruction, thie said Warren11 Hastings
did maliciously and oppressively keep him under confinement, for a part of the time witlhout any inquiry,
and afterwards with a slow and dilatory trial, for two
years together.
XV. That, notwithstandilg a total revolution in
the power, in part avowedly macde for his destruction, the persons appoilted for his trial did, on full
inquiry, completely acquit the said Mahomed Reza
Khlln of tile criminal clhargecs agaiinst Mim, onl account
of which he had been so long le:! rsecruted and confilled, and suffered mnuchl in lmnind, body, anld fortune:
and the Court of Directors, in tlheir letter of the 3d
of March, 1775, testify tllceir satisfaction in the conduct and result of the said inquiry, and did direct
the restoration of tlie said Mallomied Reza K'. IUn to
liberty, and to the offices whlichl he had lately held,
which comprehended the management of the Nabob's
household, and the general superintendency of the
justice of Bengal; but, according to the orders of
? ? ? ? 188 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the Court of Directors, his appointments were reduced to thirty thousand pounds a year, or thereabouts, of which he did make grievous complaint, on account of the expenses attendant on his station,
and the heavy debts which he had been obliged to
contract during his unjust persecution and imprisonment aforesaid.
XVI. That, on the removal of the said Mahomed
Reza Khan from the superintendency of the criminal
justice, and in consequence of letting the province
of Bengal in farm by the said Warren Hastings, several dangerous and mischievous innovations were
made by him, the said Warren Hastings, and the
criminal justice of the country was almost wholly
subverted, and great irregularities and disorders did
actually ensue.
XVII. That the Council-General, established by act
of Parliament in the year 1773, did restore the said
Mahomed Reza Kh'an, with the consent and approbation of the Nabob, (but under a protest from the said
Warren Hastings,) to his liberty and to his offices, accoilding to the spirit of the orders given by the Court
of Directors as aforesaid; and the Court of Directors
did approve of the said appointment, and did assure
the said Mabomed Reza Khan of their favor and protection as long as his conduct should merit the same,
in the following terms. "As the abilities of Mahomed
Reza Khan have been sufficiently manifested, as official experience qualifies him for so highll a station ill
a more eminent degree than any other native with
whom the Company has been connected, and as ilo
proofs of maladministraation have been established
? ? ? ? AG'AINST WARREN HASTINGS. 189
against him, either during the strict investigation of
his copduct or since his retirement, we cannot under
all circumstances but approve your recommendation
of him: to the Nabob to constitute him his Naib. We
are, well pleased that lie lhas received that appointment, and authorize you to assure him of our favor,
so long as a firm attachment to the interest of the
Company- and a proper discharge of the duties of his
station shall render him worthy of our protection. "
And' the said Mahomned Reza Khan did continue to
execute the same without ally complaint whatsoever
of malversation or negligence, in any manner or degree, in his said office.
XVIII. That in March, 1778, the said Warren
Hastings, under color that the Nabob lhad completed
his twentieth year, and had desired -to be placed in
the entire and uncontrolled management of his. own
affairs,: and that Mahomed Reza Khan should be removed from his office, and tlhat Munny Begum, his
step-mother, the dancing-girl aforesaid, " should take
on herself the management of the nizamut [the government and general superintendency'of crimiiia. ljustice] without the interference of any person whatsoever," and n otwithstandiiing the contradictions in the, pretended applications from the Nabob, with
whose incapacity for all affairs he was well acquainted, did, in defiance of the orders of the Court
of Directors, and without regard to the infamy of an
arrangemeit made for the evident and declared purpose of delivering not only the family with the prince,
but the government and justice of a great kingdom,
into such insufficient, corutpt, aqnd scandalous hands,
and though he has declared his opinion " that our na
? ? ? ? 190 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tional character is concerned in the character which
the Nabob may obtain ill the public, opinion," on'obtainiiing a majority inl Council, without ally complaint,
real or pretended, remove the said Mahomed Reza
from all his offices, alnd did partition his salary as a
spoil in tble following manler: to Munny Begum,
the dancing-girl aforesaid, an additional allowance
of 72,000 rupees (7,200g. ) a year; to the Nabob's
owii emother but hlalf that sum, that is to say, 36,000
rupees (3,600? . ) a year; to Rajah Gourdas, soil of
Nullndcomar, (whom he had described as a weak
young, man,) 72,000 rupees (7,2001. ) a year, as controller of tile lhousehol; and to a magistrate called
Sudder ul Hock, who, in real subserviency to the said
Munny Begunm, was nlollinally to act in the department of criminal justice, 78,000 rupees (7,8001. ) a
year: the total of which allowances exceeding the
salary of Alahomed Reza Khl1n by 18,000 rupees
(1,8001. ) yearly, he did, for the corrupt and scandalous purposes aforesaid, order the same to be made
up from the Company's treasury.
XLX. That Mr. Francis and Mr. Wheler having
moved that the execution of the aforesaid arrangement, tle whvlole expense of which, ordinary and extraordinary, was chargecl upon the Company's treasury, and therefore could not be even colorably disposed of at the pretended will of thle sa, id Nabob, might be
suspended until tle pleasure of thle Court of Directors thereon should be known, and the same being resolved agreeably to law by a majority of the Council
then present, the said Hastings, urging on violently
the immediate execution of his corrupt project, and
having obtained, by the return of Richard Barwell,
? ? ? ? AGATINST WARREN HASTINGS. 191
Esquire, a majority ill Council in his own casting
vote, did rescind the aforesaid resolution, and did
carry into immediate execution the aforesaid most
unwarranltable, mischievous, and scandalous design.
XX. That the consequences which might be expected from such a plan of administration did almost
instantly flow ifrom it. For the person appointed
to execute oine of the offices wliich had been filled by
Mahomedl Reza Kallanl did soon find that th'e eunuchs
of' Munnyi Begnm began to employ their power with
great superiority and insolence in all the coincerns
of government and the a dministration of justice, and
did endeavor to dispose of the offices relative to the
same for their corrupt purposes, ahd to rob the Nabob's servants of their -dclue allowances; and in his
letter of the 1st September, 1778, he sent a complaint to the board, stating, " that certain bad men
had gained an ascendency over the Nabob's temper,
by whose instigation he acts "; and after complaining
of the slights hle received from the Nabob, lhe adds:
" Thus they cause thle Nabob to treat me, sometimes
with inlldigity, at others witlh lidlnless, just as they
think proper to advise hilll; tlleir view is, that, by
comfpelling ume to displeasure at most unlwortlly treatmeLlt, tllhey imay force me eitlher to relinquish imy stationl, or to join with thllen, adllc act bly tllheir advice, and appillnt creatures of tlhir lrecommenildation to
the different offices, from wllich tllcy migllt draw
profit to themselves. "
XXI'. Thlat, in a subsequent letter to tile Governor, the said Superintendent of Justice did inform
him, the said Warren Hastings, of thoe audacious and
? ? ? ? 192 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
corrupt manner in which, by violence, fraud, and
forgery, the eunuchs of Munny Beguin had abused
the Nabob's name, to deprive the judicial and executory officers of justice of the salaries which they
ought to have drawn from the Company's treasury,
in the following words: "The Begum's ministers,
before my arrival, with the advice of their counsellors, caused the Nabob to sign a receipt, in consequence of which they received, at two different times,, near 50,0)0 rupees [5,0001. ], in the name of the
officers of the Adawlut, Phousdary, &c. , from the
Company's sircars; and having drawn up an account-current in the manner they wished, they had got
the Nabob to sign it, and sent it to me. " And in
the same letter he asserts, "that these people had
the Nabob entirely in their power. "
XXII. That the said Warren Hastings, upon this
representation, did, notwithstanding his late pretended opinion of the fitness and the right of the Nabob to
the sole administration of his own affairs, authoritatively forbid him from any interference therein, and
ordered that the whole should be left to the magistrate
aforesaid; to which the Nabob did, notwithstanding
his pretended independence, yield an immediate and
unreserved submission: for the said Hastings's order
being given on the 1st of September at Calcutta, he
~received an answer from Moorshedabad on the 3d, ill
the following terms: " Agreeably to your pleasure, I
have relinquished all concern with the affairs of the
Pliousdaly and Adawlut, leaving the entire management in Sudder ul Hock's hands. " Which said circumstance, as well as many others, abundantly proves that all the Nabob's actions were in truth and fact el
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. i93
tirely governed by the influence of the said Hastings,
and that, however the said Hastings may have publicly discouraged the corrupt transactions of the said
court, yet he did secretly uphold the authority and
influence of Munny Begum, who did entirely direct,
with his knowledge and countenance, all the proceedings therein. For
XXIII. That on the 13th of the same month of
September he did receive a further complaint of the
corrupt and fraudulent practices of the chief eunuch
of the said Munny Begum; and these corrupt practices did so continue and increase, that on the 10th of
October, 1778, he was obliged to confess, in the strongest terms, the pernicious consequences of his beforecreated unwarrantable and illegal arrangements; for, in a letter of that date to the Nabob, he expresses
himself as follows. "At your Excellency's request,
I sent Sudder ul Hock Khln to take on him the administration of the affairs of the Adawlut and Phousdary, and hoped by that means not only to have given satisfaction to your Excellency, but that, through his
abilities and experience, these affairs would have been
conducted in such manner as to have secured the
peace of the country and the happiness of the people; and it is with the greatest concern I learn that
this measure is so far from being attended with the
expected advantages, that the affairs both of the
Phousdary and Adawlut are in the greatest confusion
imaginable, and daily robberies and murders, are perpetrated throughout the country. This is evidently
owing to the want of a proper authority in the person
appointed to superintend them. I therefore addressed
yoiur Excellency on the importance and delicacy of
VOL. IX. 13
? ? ? ? 194 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the affairs in question, and of the necessity of lodging full power in the hands of the person chosen to
administer them; in reply to which your Excellency
expressed sentiments coincident with mine; notwithstanding which, your dependants and people, actuated by selfish and' avaricious views, have by their interference so impeded the business as to throw the
whole country into a state of confusion, from which
nothing can retrieve it but an unlimited power lodged
in the hands of the superintendent. I therefore request
that your Excellency will give the strictest iinjunctions
to all your dependants not to interfere in any manner
with any matter relative to the affairs of the Adawlut
and Phousdary, and that you will yourself relinquish
all interference therein, and leave them entirely to the
management of Sudder ul Hock Khan: this is absolutely necessary to restore the country to a state of
tranquillity. " And. he concluded by again recommending the Nabob to withdraw all interference with
the administrator aforesaid: " otherwise a measure
which I adopted at your Excellency's request, and
with a view to your satisfaction and the benefit of the
country, will be attended with quite contrary effects,
and bring discredit on me. "
XXIV. That the said Hastings, in the letter aforesaid, in which he so strongly condemns the acts and
so clearly marks out the mischievous effects of the
corrupt influence under which alone the Nabob acted,
and under which alone, from his known incapacity,
and his dependence on the person supported by the
said Hastings, he could act, did propose to put all the
offices of justice (which on another occasion he had
requested him to permit to remain in the hands whicl
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 195
then held them) into his own disposal, - telling him,
or rather the woman and eunuchs who governed him,
" that, if his Excellency has any plan for the manage
ment of the affairs ill future, be pleased to communi
cate it to me, and every attention shall be paid to give
your Excellency satisfaction ": by which means not
only particular parts, as before, but the whole system
of justice was to be afloat, and to be subject to the
purposes of the aforesaid corrupt cabal of women and
eunuchs.
XXV. That the Court of Directors, on receiving
an account of the above arrangements, and being
well apprised of the spirit, intention, and probable
effect of the same, did, in a clear, firm, and decisive
manner, express their condemnation of the measure,
and their rejection and reprobation of all the pretended grounds and reasons on which the same was supported, - marking distinctly his prevarication and
contradictions in the same, and pointing to him their
full conviction of the unworthy motives on which he
had made so shameful an arrangement: telling him,
in the 17th paragraph of their general letter of the
4th of February, 1779, " The Nabob's letters of the
25th and 30th of August, of the 3d of September,
and 17th of November, leave us no doubt of the true
design of this extraordinary business being to bring
forward Munny Begum, and again to invest her with
improper power and influence, notwithstanding our
former declaration, that so great a part of the Nabob's allowance had been embezzled and misapplied under her superintendence. "
XXVI. That, in consequence of the censure and
? ? ? ? 196 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
condemnation of the unwarrantable measures of the
said Warren Hastings by the Court of Directors,
on the aforesaid and other weighty and substantial
grounds, they did order and direct as follows, in the
20th paragraph of the general letter of the same
date. " As we deem it for the welfare of the country
that the office of Naib Subahdar be for the present
continued, and that this high office should be filled
by a person of wisdom, experience, and of approved
fidelity to the Company, and as we have no reason
to alter the opinion given of Mahomed Reza Khan
in our letter of the 24th of December, 1776, we positively direct, that you forthwith signify to the Nabob
Mobarek ul Dowlah our pleasure that Mahomed Reza
Kha'n be immediately restored to the office of Naib
Subahdar; and we further direct, that Mahomed Reza Khan be again assured of the continuance of our
favor, so long as a firm attachment to the interest
of the Company and a proper discharge of the duties
of his station shall render him worthy of our protection. "
XXVII. That the aforesaid direction did convey in
it such evident and cogent reason, and was so far enforced by justice to individuals and by regard to the
peace and happiness of the natives, as well as by the
common decorum to be observed in all the transactions of government, that the said Hastings ought to
have yielded-a cheerful obedience thereto, even if he
had not been by a positive statute, and his relation
of servant to the Company, bound to that just submission. Yet the said Hastings did, without denying or evading any one of the reasons assigned by the Court of Directors, or controverting the scandalous
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 197
motives assigned by them for his conduct, contumiaciously refuse obedience to the above positive order, on pretence that the Nabob, who, he had declared it
on record "to be as visible as the light of the sun,
is a mere pageant, and without even the shadow of
authority," did dissent from the same; and he did
encourage the said Nabob, or rather the eunuchs, the
corrupt ministers of Munny Begum, to oppose himself
and themselves to the authority of the said Court
of Directors: by which means the arrangement, three
times either ratified or expressly ordered by them,
was wholly defeated; the aforesaid corrupt system
was continued; Mahomed Reza Khan was not restored to his office; and a lesson was taught to the natives of all ranks, that the declared approbation,
the avowed sanction, and the decided authority of
the Court of Directors were wholly nugatory to their
protection against the corrupt influence of their servants.
XXVIII. That the said Warren Hastings, on a
reconciliation with Mr. Francis, one of the CouncilGeneral, who made it a condition thereof that certain
of the Company's orders should be obeyed, and that
Mahomed Reza Khan should be restored to his offices, did, a. considerable time after, notwithstanding the pretended reluctance of the Nabob, and his pretended freedom, make, for his convenience in the said accommodation, the arrangement which he had
unwarrantably and illegally refused to the orders of
the Court of Directors, and did of his own authority
and that of the board restore Mahomed Reza Khan
to his offices.
? ? ? ?
198 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
XXIX. That soon after the departure of the said
Mr. Francis he did again deprive the said Mahomed
Reza Khan of his said offices, and did make several
great changes in the constitution of the criminal
justice in the said country; and after having, under
pretence of the Nabob's sufficiency for the management of his own affairs, displaced, without any specific charge, trial, or inquiry whatsoever, the said Mahomed Reza KhAn, he did submit the said Nabob
to the entire direction, in all parts of his concerns, of
a Resident of his own nomination, Sir John D'Oyly,
Baronet, and did order an account of the most minute parts of his domestic economy to be made out,
and to be delivered to the said Sir John D'Oyly, in
the following words, contained in a paper by him
intituled, INSTRUCTIONS from the Governor-General to the Nabob Mobarek ul Dowlah respecting his
conduct in the management of his affairs. " You
will be pleased to direct your mu. tseddies to form
an account of the fixed sums of your monthly expenses, such as servJnts' wages in the different departments, pensions, and other allowances, as well as of the estimated amount of variable expenses, to be
delivered to Sir JohnI D'Oyly for my inspection. I
have given such orders to Sir John D'Oyly as will
enable him to propose to you such reductions of the
pensions and other allowances, and such a distribution of the variable expenses, as shall be proportionable to the total sum of your monthly income; and 1 must request you will conform to it. " And lie did, in
the subsequent articles of his said instructions, order
the whole management to be directed by Sir John
D'Oyly, subject to his own directions as aforesaid;
and did even direct what company lie should keep;
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 199
and did throw reflections on some persons, ill places
the nearest to him, as of bad character and base origin, - persons whom he should decline to name as
such, " unless he heard that they still availed themselves of his goodness to retain the places which they
improperly hold near his person. " And he did particularly order the said Nabob not to admit ally English, but such as the said Sir John D'Oyly should approve, to his presence; and did repeat the said
order in the following peremptory manner: " You
mustforbid any person of that nation to be intruded
into your presence without his introduction. " And
he did require his obedience in the following authoritative style: " I shall think myself obliged to interfere in another manner, if you neglect it. "
XXX. That he, the said Warren Hastings, did
insult the captive condition of the said Nabob by
informing him, in his imperious instructions aforesaid, that this total, blind, and implicit obedience,
in every respect whatsoever, to Sir John D'Oyly and
himself personally, and without any reference to the
board, "was the very conditions of the compliance
of the Governor-General and Council with his late
requisition"; which requisition was, that he should
enjoy the free and uncontrolled management of his
own affairs. And though the said captive did offer,
as he, the said Hastings, himself admits,four lacs of
his stipend, at that time reduced to sixteen lac, for
the free use of the remainder, yet he did place him,
the said Nabob, in the state of servitude in the said
instructions laid down but a very short time after he
had assumed and used the said Nabob's independent
rights as a ground for refusing to obey the Corn
? ? ? ? 200 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
pany's orders, -and although he has declared, o1
pretended, on another occasion, which he would have
thought similar, that any attempt to limit the household expenses of the Nabob of Oude was an indignity, " which no man living, however mean his rank in life, or dependent his condition in it, would permit to be exercised by any other, without the want
or forfeiture of every manly principle. "
XXXI. That the said Warren Hastings did order
the said stipend (which was to be distributed, in the
minutest particular, according to the said Hastings's
personal directions) to be paid monthly, not to any
officer of the Nabob, but to the said Resident, Sir
John D'Oyly. And whereas the Governor-General
and Council did, on the appointment of Mahomed
Reza Khan, according to their duty, instruct him,
that " he do conform to the orders of the Company,
which direct that an annual account of the Nabob's
expenses be transmitted through the Resident at the
Durbar, for the inspection of this board," the said
Hastings, in making his new establishment in favor
of his Resident, did wholly omit the said instruction,
and did confine the said communication to himself,
privately. And in fact it does not appear that any
account whatsoever of the disposition of the said
large sum, exceeding 160,0001. sterling a year, has
been laid before the board, or at least that any such
account has been transmitted to the Court of Directors; and it is not fitting that any British servant
of the Company should have the management of any
public money, much less of so great a sum, without
a public well-vouched account of the specific expenditure thereof:
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 201
XXXII. That the Court of Directors did, on the
17th of May, 1766, propose certain rules for regulating the correspondence of the Resident with the Nabob of Bengal, in which they did direct, as a principle for the said regulations, as follows (paragraph 16th). " We would have his correspondence to be
carried on with the Select Committee through the
channel of the President: he should keep a diary
of all his transactions. His correspondence with the
natives must be publicly conducted: copies of all his
letters, sent and received, be transmitted monthly to
the Presidency, with duplicates and triplicates to be
transmitted home in our general packet by every
ship. "
XXXIII. That the President and Select Committee (Lord Clive being then President) did approve of the whole substantial part of the said regulation (the diary excepted); and the principle, in
all matters of account, ought to have been strictly
adhered to, whatever limitations may have been given
to the office of Resident. Yet he, the said Warren
Hastings, in defiance of the aforesaid good rules, orders, and late precedent in conformity to the same,
did not only withhold any order for the purpose, but,
in order to carry on the business of the said durbar
in a clandestine manner for his own purposes, did,
as aforesaid, exclude all English from an intercourse
with' thle Nabob, who might carry complaints or
representations to the board, or the Court of Directors, of his condition, or the conduct of the Resident,-and did further, to defeat all possible publicity, insinuate to him to give the preference to
verbal communication above letters, in the words
? ? ? ? 202 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
following, of the ninth article of his instructions to
the Nabob: "Although I desire to receive your letters fiequently, yet, as many matters will occur which
cannot be so easily explained by letters as by conversation, I desire that you will on such occasions give
your orders to him respecting such points as you
may desire to have imparted to me; and I, postponing every other concern, will give an immediate
and the most satisfactory reply concerning them. "
Accordingly, no relation whatsoever has been received by the Court of Directors of the said Nabob's
affairs, nor any account of the money monthly paid,
except from public fame, which reports that his affairs are in great disorder, his servants unpaid, and
many of them dismissed, and all the Mussulmen dependent on his family in a state of indigence.
XVIII. -THE MOGUL DELIVERED UP TO THE MAHRATTAS.
I. THAT Shah Allumre, the prince commonly called
the Great MIogul, or, by eminence, The King, is, or
lately was, in the possession of the ancient capital
of Hindostan, and though without any considerable
territory, and without a revenue sufficient to maintain a moderate state, he is still much respected and
considered, and the custody of his person is eagerly
sought by many of the princes in India, on account
of the use to be made of his title and authority;
and it was for the interest of the East India Company, that, while on one hand no wars shall be entered into in support of his pretensions, on the other no steps should be taken which may tend to deliver
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 203
him into the hands of any of the powerful states of
that country, but that he should be treated with
friendship, good faith, and respectful attention.
II. That Warren Hastings, in contradiction to this
safe, just, and honorable policy, strongly prescribed
and enforced by the orders of the Court of Directors,
did, at a time when he was engaged in a negotiation
the declared purpose of which was to give peace to
India, concur with the captain-general of the Mah
ratta state, called Mahdajee Sindia, in hostile designs
against the few remaining territories of that same
Mogul emperor, by virtue of whose grant the Company actually possess the government and enjoy the revenues of great provinces, and also against the
possessions of a Mahomedan chief called Nudjif
Khan, a person of much merit with the East India
Company, in acknowledgment of which they had
granted him a pension, included in the tribute due
to the king, and, together with that tribute, taken
from him by the said Warren Hastings, though expressly guarantied to him by the Company. With both these powers the Company had been in friendship, and were actually at peace at the time of
the said clandestine concurrence in a design against
them; and the said Hastings hath since declared,
that the right of one of them, namely, "the right
of the Mogul emperor, to our assistance, has been
constantly acknowledged. "
III. That the said Warren Hastings, at the time
of his treacherous concurrence in a design against
a power which he was himself of opinion we were
bound to assist, and against whom there was no
? ? ? ? 204 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
doubt he was bound neither to form nor to concur
in any hostile attempt, did give a caution to Colonel
Muir, to whom the negotiation aforesaid was intrusted on the part of the Company, against "inserting
anything in the treaty which might expressly mark
our knowledge of his [the Mahratta general's] views,
or concurrence in them. " Which said transaction was
full of duplicity and fraud; and the crime of the said
Hastings therein is aggravated by his having some
years before withheld the tribute which by treaty was
solemnly agreed to be paid to the said king, on pretence that he had thrown himself, for the recovery of
his city of Delhi, on the protection of the Mahrattas,
whom the said Warren Hastings then called the natural enemies of the Company, and the growth of whose
power he then alleged to be highly dangerous to the
interests of this kingdom in India.
IV. That, after having concurred, in the manner
before mentioned, in a design of the Mahrattas against
the Mogul, and notwithstanding he, the said Warren
Hastings, had formerly declared, " that with him [the
Mogul] our connection had been a long time suspended, and he wvished never to see it renewed, as it
had proved a fatal drain to the wealth of Bengal and
the treasury of the Company, without yielding one
advantage -or possible resource, even of remote benefits, in return," the said Warren Hastings did nevertheless, on or about the month of March, 1783, with the privity and consent of the members of the board,
but by no authoritative act, dispatch, as agents of
him, the Governor-General only, and not as agents
of the Governor-General and Council, as they ought
to have been, certain persons, among whom were Ma
? ? ? ? AlGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 205
jor Browne and Major Davy, to the court of the king
at Delhi, and did there enter into certain engagements with the said king by the means of those agents, and did carry on certain private and dangerous intrigues for various purposes, particularly for making
war in favor of the said king against some powers or
princes not precisely described, but which, as may be
inferred from a subsequent correspondence, were certain Mahomedan princes in the neighborhood of Delhi in amity with the Company, and some of them at that
time in the actual service and in the apparent confidence and favor of the said Mogul; and he did order Major Browne to offer to the Mogul king to provide
for the entire expense of any troops the Shahll [the said
king] might require; and the proposal was accordingly accepted, with the conditions annexed: by
which proposal and acceptance thereof the East India
Company was placed in a situation of great and perplexing difficulty; since either they were to engage,
at an unlimited expense, in new wars, contrary to
their orders, contrary to their general declared policy, and contrary to the published resolutions of the House of Commons, and wholly incompatible with
the state of their finances, or, to preserve peace, they
must risk the imputation of a new violation of faith,
by departing from an agreement made on the voluntary proposal of their own government,-the agent
of the said Hastings having declared, in his letter
to the said Hastings, by him communicated to the
board, " that the business of assisting the Shah [the
Mogul emperor] can and must go on, if we wish to be
secure in India, or regarded as a nation of faith and
honor. "
? ? ? ? 206 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
V. That the said Warren Hastings did, on the 20th
day of January, 1784, send in circulation to the other members of the Council a letter to him from his
agent, Major. Browne, dated at Delhi, on the 30th of'
December, 1783, viz. , that letter to-which the foregoing references are made, in which the said Browne
did directly press, and indirectly (though sufficiently
and strongly) suggest, several highly dangerous measures for realizing the general offers and engagements
of the said Warren Hastings, - proposing, that, besides a proportion of field artillery, and a train of
battering cannon for the purpose of sieges, six regiments of sepoys in the Company's service should be
transferred to that of the said king, and that certain
other corps should also be raised for the said service
in the English provinces and dependencies, to be immediately under the king's [the Mogul's] orders, and
to be maintained by assignments of territorial revenue within the province of Oude, a dependent mem-,
ber of the British government, but with a caution
against having any British officer with the same; the
said Major Browne expressing his caution as followeth: "If any European officer be with this corps, a
very nice judgment indeed must direct the choice;
for scarce any are in the smallest degree fit for such
employ, but much more likely to do harm than good. "
And the letter aforesaid being without any observation thereon, or any disavowal of the matters of fact
or of the counsels so strongly and authoritatively delivered therein by the said Warren Hastings's agent,
and without any mark of disapprobation of any part
of his plan, whether that of the assignment of territory belonging to the Company's allies for the maintenance of troops which were to be by that plan put
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 207
under the orders of a foreign independent power, or
that of employing the said troops without any British
officer with them, or for his alarming observation by
him entered oni the Company's records, which, if not
an implied censure on the nature of the service in
which British officers are supposed improper to be
trusted, is a strong reflection on the character of the
British officers, which was to render them unfit to be
employed in an honorable service, -- the said Warren
J{astings did thereby give a countenance to the said
unwarrantable and dangerous proposals and reflections.
VI. That a considerable time before the production and circulation of Major Browne's letter, the said
Hastings did enter a Minute of Consultation containing a proposition similar in the general intent to that
in the said letter contained for assisting the Mogul
with a military force; but the other members of the
board did disagree thereto, and, being alarmed at the
disposition so strongly shown by the said Hastings to
engage in new wars and dangerous foreign connections, and possibly having intelligence of the proceedings of his agent, did call upon him to produce his instructions to Major Browne; and he did, on the 5th
of October, 1783, and not before, enter on the Consultations a certain paper purporting to be the instructions which he had given to Major Browne the preceding March, the time of his, the said Browne's,
appointment, in which pretended instructions no direction whatsoever was given to the effect of his, the
said Hastings's, Minute of Consultation propounded:
that is to say, no power was given in the said instructions to make a direct offer of military aid to the
? ? ? ? 208 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
Mogul, or to form the arrangements stated by the
said Browne, in his letter to the said Hastings, as having been made by the express authority of the said
Hastings himself; but the said instructions contained
nothing further on that subject but a conditional direction, that, in case a military force should be required for the Mogul's aid or protection, the Major is
to know the service on which it is to be employed,
and the resources from whence it is to be paid; and
the instructions produced as his real instructions by
the said Hastings are so guarded as to caution the
said Browne against taking any part in the intrigues
of those who are about the king's person. By which
letters, instructions, and transactions, compared with
each other, it appears that the said Warren Hastings,
after six months' delay in entering of (contrary to
the Company's order) any. instructions to the said
Browne, did at last enter a false paper as the true, or
that he did give other secret instructions, totally different from, and even opposite to, his public ostensible instructions, thereby to deceive the Council, and to carry on with less obstruction dark and dangerous
intrigues, contrary to the orders of the Court of Directors, to the true policy of this kingdom, and to the
safety of the British possessions in the East.
VII. That the said letter from Major Browne was
by the said Warren Hastings transmitted to the Court
of Directors, without being accompanied by any part
of the previous correspondence; by which wilful concealmrent the said Warren Hastings is guilty of an
high and criminal disrespect to the Court of Directors, and of a most flagrant breach and violation of
their orders, which he was bound by an act of Parliament to obey.
? ? ? ? AGAITNST WARREN HASTINGS. 209
VIII. That the said Hastings having early in the
year 1784 procured to himself a deputation to act in
the upper provinces, the Council, being well aware
of his disposition to engage in unwarrantable designs
against the neighboring states, did expressly confine
his powers to the circumstance of his actual residence within the Company's provinces. But it appears that ways were found out by which lie hoped to defeat the precautions of the board: for the said
Warren Hastings did write from Lucknow, the capital of the country of Oude, to the Court of Directors,
a certain postscript of a letter, dated the 4th of May,
1784, in which he informs the Court that the son and
heir-apparent of the Great Mogul had taken refuge
with him and the Nabob of Oude; that he had a
conference with that prince on the 10th of the same
month of May, "no person being either present or
within hearing" during the same; and that in the
said conference the prince had informed him of the
distresses of his father, and his wish for the relief of
the king and the restoration of the dominions of his
house, as well as to rescue him from the power of
certain persons not named, who degraded him into
a mere instrument of their interested and sordid designs, and that, on a failure of his application to him,
he would either return to his father, or proceed to,
Calcutta, and thence to England; and that the. said,
Warren Hastings did give him an answer to the following effect: "That our [the British] government
had just obtained relief from a state of universal
warfare, and required a term of repose; that; our
whole nation was weary of war, and dreaded the
renewal of it, and would' be equally alarmed at any
movement of which it could not see the issue or progress,
VOL. Ix. 14
? ? ? ? 210 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
but which might eventually tend to create new hostilhties; that he came hither [to Lucknow] with a limited authority, and could not, if he chose it, engage in a business of that Iiature without the concurrence of
his colleagues in office, who he believed would be adverse
to it; that he would represent the same to the joint
members of his own government, and wait their
determination. In the mean time he advised the
prince to make advances to Mahdajee Sindia, both
because our government was in intimate and sworn
connection with him, and because he was the effectual
head of the Mahratta state; besides that he [the said
Warren Hastings] feared his [Sindia's] taking the
other side of the question, unless he was early prevented. "
IX. That in the statement of this discourse there
is much criminal reserve towards the Court of Directors,-it not appearing distinctly what the objects
were, nor Wlio the persons concerned, nor what the
side was which he apprehended the Mahrattas might
take, if not prevented by his advances; and in the'discourse itself there were many particulars highly
criminal, namely, - for that in the said conversation,
in which he describes himself as declining a compliance with the request of the prince on account of
the aversion (therein strongly expressed) of his colleagues, of the Company, and of the whole British
nation, to engage in any measures which might even
" eventually lead to hostilities," he spoke to the prince
as if he had been entirely ignorant of the offers which
but five months before had been made, to the king,
his father, on the part of that very government,. (whose repugnance to such measures he then for the
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 211
first time chose to profess, but which he always. had
known,) through Major Browne, the Company's representative at the court of Delhi, "to provide for the
entire expense of any troops which the Shah [the
king] might require," and that this was " what the
Resident had always proposed to the king and his
confidential ministers," - the said Browne further declaring, "tlhat, if, in consequence of the said proposals, certain arrangements for the Shah's service by troops were not immediately ordered, in his opinion
all our [EEnglish government's] offers and promises
will be considered as false and insidious. " This being the known state of the business, as represented
by' the said Hastings's own agent, and this the public
opinion of it, although to impose on the ignorance
of the prince with regard to the proceedings at. his
father's court would have been unworthy in itself,
yet he, the said Warren Hastings, could not hope to
succeed in such imposition, as in the postscript aforesaid he represents the said prince (who was the king's
eldest son, and thirty-six years of age) as a person of
considerable qualifications, and perfectly acquainted
with the transactions at his fatller's court, and as
one who had long held the principal and most active
part ill the little that remained of the administration
of Shah Allum. And the said Hastings conferring
with a prince so well instructed, without making the
slightest allusions to his said positive and recent engagements, or without giving any explanation with
regard to them, the said Warren Hastings must fappear to the said prince either as a person not only
contracting -engagements, but actually being the first
mover and proposer of them, without any authority
from his colleagues, and against theirs and the gen
? ? ? ? 212 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
oral inclination of the British nation, and on that
ground not to be trusted, or that he had used this
plea of disagreement between him and his Council
as a pretence, set up without color or decency, for a
gross violation of his own engagements, leaving the
princes and states of the country no solid ground on
which they can or ought to contract with the Company, to the utter destruction of all public confidence,
and to the equal disgrace of the national candor, integrity, and wisdom.
X. That in a letter dated from the same place,
Lucknow, the 16th of the following June, 1784, the
said Warren Hastings informs the Court of Directors,
that Major Browne, their agent to the Mogul, had
arrived there in the character also of agent from the
Mogul, with two sets of instructions from two opposite parties in his ministry, which instructions were
directly contrary to each other: the first, which were
the ostensible instructions, being to engage the said
Hastings, in the Mogul's name, to enter into a treaty
of mutual alliance with a chief of the country, then
minister to the said Mogul, called Afrasaib Khaln; the
second were from another principal person, called
Mudjed'ul Dowlah, also a minister of the said Mogul,
(but styled in the said letter confidential, for distinction,) which were directly destructive of the former;
and the said latter instructions, to which it seems
credence was to be given, were sent " under the most
solemn adjurations of secrecy. " The purpose of these
latter and secret instructions was to require the Company's aid in freeing the Mogul from the oppressions of his servants, namely, from the oppressions of the said Afrasaib, between whom and the Com
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 213
pany Major Browne (at once agent to that Company,
and to two opposite factions in the Mogul's court)
accepted a power to make a treaty of mutual alliance
under the sanction. of his sovereign. And it does not
appear that he, Warren Hastings, did discountenance
the doquble-dealing ald fraudulent agencies of his
and the Company's minister at that court, or did disavow any particular in the letter from him, the said Browne, of the 30th of December, 1783, stating the
offers made on his part to the Mogul, so contradictory to his late declarations to the heir-apparent of that monarch, or did give any reprimand to the said
Browne, or did show any mark of displeasure against
him, as having acted without orders, but did again
send him, with renewed confidence, to the court aforesaid.
XI. That the said Warren Hastings, still pursuing his said evil designs, did apply to the Council for discreiionary powers relative to the intrigues and
factions in the Mogul's court, giving assurances of
his resolution not to proceed against their sense; but
the said Council, being fully aware of his disposition, and having Major Browne's letter, recorded by himself, the said Warren Hastings, before them, did
refuse to grant the said discretionary powers, but,
on the contrary, did exhort him "most sedulously
and cautiously to avoid, in his correspondence with'the different princes in India, whatever may commit, or be strained into an interpretation of committing
the Company, either as to their army or treasure," -
observing, "that the Company's orders are positive
against their interference in the objects of dispute
between the country powers. "
? ? ? ? 214 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
XII. That, in order to subvert the plain and natural interpretation given by the Council to the orders
of the Court of Directors, and to justify his dangerous
intrigues, the said Warren Hastings, in his letter of
the 16th June, 1784, to the said Court, did, in a most
insolent and contemptuous manner, endeavor to persuade them of their ignorance of the true sense of their own orders, and to limit their prohibition of interference with the disputes of the country powers to such country powers as are perrmnnent, - expressing
himself as follows: " The faction which now surrounds
the throne [the Mogul's throne] is widely different
from the idea which your commands are intended to
convey by the expressions to which you have generally
applied them, of country powers, to which that of permanency is a necessary adjunct, and which may be more properly compared to a splendid bubble, which
the slightest breath of opposition may dissipate with
every trace of its existence. " By which construction
the said Hastings did endeavor to persuade the'Court
of Directors that they meant to confine their prohi
bition of sinister intrigues to those powers only who
could not be easily hurt by them, and whose strength
was such that their resentment of such clandestine
interference was to be dreaded; but that, where the
powers were weak and fragile, such intrigues might
be allowed.
XIII. That the said Hastings, further to persuade
the Court of Directors to involve themselves in the
affairs of the Mogul, and to reconcile this measure
with his former conduct and declared opinions, did
write to them to the following effect: That " at that
former period to which the ancient policy with regard
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 215
to the Mogul applied, the king's authority was sufficiently respected" (which he knew not to be true, -
having himself declared, in his minute of the 25th
of October, 1774, "that he remained at Delhi, the
ancient capital of the empire, a mere cipher in the administration of it") to maintain itself against com
monl vicissitudes; that he would not have advised interference, if the king himself retained the exercise
of it, however feeble, in his own hands; that, if it [the
Mogul's authority] is suffered to receive its final extinction, it is impossible to foresee what power may
arise out of its ruins, or what events may be linked in
the same chain of revolution with it: but your interests may suffer by it, your reputation certainly will, as
his right to our assistance has been constantly acknowledged, and by a train of consequences to which our government has not intentionally given birth, but most especially by the movements which its influence, by too
near an approach, has excited, it has unfortunately become the efficient instrumqnt of a great portion of
the king's present distresses and dangers," - intimating (as well as the studied obscurity of his expressions
will permit anything to be discerned) that his own
late intrigues had been among the causes of the distresses and dangers, which by new intrigues he did
pretend to remove: and he did conclude this part of
his letter with some loose general expressions of his
caution not to affect the Company's interests or revenues by any measures he might at that time take.
XIV. That the principle, so far as the same hath
been directly avowed, of the said proceedings at the
Mogul's court, was as altogether irrational, and the
pretended object as impracticable, as the means taken
? ? ? ? 216 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
in pursuit of it were fraudulent and dishonorable,
namely, the restoration of the Mogul in some degree
to the dignity of his situation, and to his free agency
in the conduct of his affairs. For the said Hastings,
at the very time in which he did with the greatest
apparent earnestness urge the purpose which he pretended to have in view with regard to the dignity and liberty of the Mogul emperor, did represent him as
a person wholly disqualified, and even indisposed, to
take any active part whatsoever in the conduct of his
own affairs, and that any attempt for that purpose
would be utterly impracticable; and this he hath
stated to the Court of Directors as a matter of public
notoriety, in his said letter of the 16th of June, 1784,
in the following emphatical and decisive terms.
" You need not be told the character of the king,
whose inertness, and the habit of long-suffering, has
debased his dignity and the fortunes of his house
beyond the power of retrieving either the one or the other.
Whilst his personal repose is undisturbed, he will
prefer to live in the meanest state of indigence, under
the rule of men whose views are bounded by avarice'
and the power which they derive from his authority,
rather than commit any share of it to his own sons,
(though his affection for. them is boundless in every
other respect,) from a natural jealousy, founded on
the experience of a very different combination of
those circumstances which once served as a temptation and example of unlawful ambition in the princes of the royal line. His ministers, from a policy more
reasonable, have constantly employed every means of
influence to confirm this disposition, and to prevent
his sons from having any share in the distribution of
affairs, so as to have established a complete usurpation
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 217
of the royal prerogative under its own sanction and
patronage. "
XV. That the said Warren Hastings, having given
this opinion of the sovereign for whose freedom he
pretended so anxious a concern, did describe the minister with whom he had long acted in concurrence,
and from whom he had just received the extraordinary secret embassy aforesaid for the purpose of effecting the deliverance of his master, the Mogul, from the usurpations of his ministers, as follows. "The first
minister, Mudjed ul Dowlah, is totally deficient in
every military quality, conceited of his own superior
talents, and formed to the practice of that crooked policy which generally defeats its own purpose, but sincerely attached to his master. " The reality of the
said attachment was not improbable, but altogether
useless, as the said minister was the only one among
the principal persons about the king who (besides the
total want of all military and civil ability) possessed
no territories, troops, or other means of serving and
supporting him, but was himself solely upheld by his
influence over his master: neither doth the said Hastings free him, any more than the persons more eficient, who were to be destroyed, from a disposition to alienate the king from an attention to his affairs, and
from all confidence in his own family; but, on the
contrary, he brings him forward as the very first
among the instances he adduces to exemplify the
practices of the ministers against their sovereign and
his children.
XVI. That the said Warren Hastings, recommending in general terms, and yet condemning in detail,
? ? ? ? 218 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
every part of his own pretended plan, as impractica.
ble in itself, and as undertaken in favor of persons all
of whom he describes as incapable, and the principal
as indisposed to avail himself thereof, must have had
some other motives for this long, intricate, dark, and
laborious proceeding with the Mogul, which must be
sought in his actions, and the evident drift and tendency thereof, and in declarations which were brought
out by him to serve other purposes, but which serve
fully to explain his real intentions in this intrigue.
XVII. That the other members of the CouncilGeneral having- abundantly certified their averseness
to his intrigues, and even having shown apprehensions of his going personally to the Mogul and the
Mahrattas for the purpose of carrying on the same,
the said Hastings was driven headlong to acts which
did much more openly indicate the true nature and
purpose of his machinations. For he at length recurred directly, and with little disguise, to the Mallrattas, and did open an intrigue with them, although he was obliged. to confess, in his letter aforesaid of
the 16th June, 1784, that the exception which he
contended to be implied in the orders of the Court of
Directors forbidding the intermeddling in the disputes
of " the country powers," namely,'"~powers not permanent," did by no means apply to the Mahrattas;
and he informs the Court of Directors that he did,
on the very first advice he received of the flight of
the Mogul's son, write to Mr. James Anderson to apprise the Mahratta chief, Sindia, of that event, -" for
which as he was unprepared, he desired his [the
said Sindia's] advice for his conduct on the occasion
of it. " Which method of calling for the advice of a
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN EHASTINGS. 219
foreigrn power to regulate his political conduct, instead of being regulated therein by the advice of the
British Council aild the standing orders of the Court
of Directors, was a procedure highly criminal; and
the crime is aggravated by his not communicating
the said correspondence to the Council-General, as by
his duty he was bound to do; but it does abundantly
prove his concert with the Mlahrattas in all that related to his negotiations in the Mogul court, which were
carried- on agreeably to their advice, and in subserviency to their views and purposes.
XVIII. That, in consequence of the cabal begun
with the Mahrattas, the said chief, Sindia, did send
his " familiar and confidential ministers" to him, the
said Hastings, being at Lucknow, with whom the said
Hastings did hold several secret conferences, without
any secretary or other assistant: and the said tHastings hath not conveyed to the Court of Directors any
minutes thereof, but bath purposely involved even the
general effect and tendency of these conferences in
such obscurity that it is no otherwise possible to perceive the drift and tendency of the same, but by the
general scope of councils and acts relative to the politics of the Mogul and of the Mahrattas together, and
by the final event of the whole, which is sufficiently
visible. For
XIX. That the said Hastings had declared, in his
said letter of the 16th June, 1784, that the Mogul's
right to our assistance had been constantly acknowledged, that the Mogul had been oppressed by the lesser Mahomedan princes in the character of his officers of state and military commanders, and he did
? ? ? ? 220 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
plainly intimate that the said Mogul ought to be relieved from that servitude. And he did, in giving an account to the Court of Directors of the conferences
aforesaid, assure them that "' his inclinafions [the inclinations of the Mahratta chief aforesaid] were not very dissimilar from his own "; and that " neither in
this nor in any other instance would he suffer himself
to be drawn into measures which shall tend to weaken
their. connection, nor in this even to oppose his [the
said chief's] inclinations": the said Hastings well
knowing, as in his letter to Colonel Muir of the
he has confessed, that the inclinations of
the said Sindia were to seize on the Mogul's territories, and that he himself did secretly concur therein, though he did not formally insert his concurrence in
the treaty with the said Mahratta chief. It is plain,
therefore, that he did all along concur with the Mahrattas in their designs against the said king and his ministers, under the treacherous pretence of supporting the authority of the former against the latter, and did contrive and effect the ruin of them all. For,
first, he did give evil and fraudulent counsel to the
heir-apparent of the Mogul "to make advances to the
Mahrattas," when he well knew, and had expressly
concurred in, the designs of that state against his
father's, the Mogul's, dominions; and further to
engage and entrap the said prince, did assert that
"our government" (meaning the British government) "' was in intimate and sworn connection with Maldajee Sindia," when. no alliance, offensive or defensive, appears to exist between the said Sindia and the East India Company, nor can exist, otherwise
than ill virtue of some secret agreement between
him, the said Sindia, and Warren Hastings, entered
?