No More Learning

David Anderson, conclude another treaty of perpetual
friendship and alliance with the Mahrattas, by which
the said Hastings agreed to deliver up to them all
the countries, places, cities, and forts, particularly the
island of Basseinj (taken from the Peshwa durilg th'e
war,) and to relinquish all claim to the country of
three lacs of rupees ceded to the Company by the
treaty of Poorunder; that the said Warren Hastings
did also at the said time, by a private and separate
agreement, deliver up to Mahdajee Sindia the whole
of the city of Baroach, --that is, not only the share
in the said city which the India Company acquired by
the treaty of Poorunder, but the other share thereof
which the India Company possessed for several years
before that treaty; and that among the reasons assigned by Mr. David Anderson for totally stripping
the Presidency of Bombay of all -their possessions on
the Malabar coast, he has declared, "' that, from the
general tenor of the rest of the treaty, the settlement
of Bombay would be in future put on such a footing
that it might well become a question whether the possession of an inconsiderable territory without forts would not be attended with more loss than advantage, as it must necessarily occasion considerable expense, must require troops for its defence, and
might probably in the end lead, as Sindia apprehended, to a renewal of war. "
That the said Warren Hastings, having in this. manner put an end to a war commenced by ]him
without provocation, and continued by him without
necessity, antC liaving for that purpose made so many
sacrifices to the Mahrattas in points of essential interest to the India Company, did consent and agree to
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 255
other articles utterly dishonorable to the British name
and character, having sacrificed or abandoned every
one of the native princes who by his solicitations and
promises had been engaged to take part with us in
the war, --and that he'did so without necessity:
since it appears that Sindia, the Mahratta chief who
concluded the treaty, in every part of his conduct manifested a hearty desire of establishing a peace with us;
and that this was the disposition of all the parties in
the Mahratta confederacy, who were only kept together by a general dread of their common enemy, the
English, and who only waited for a cessation of hostilities with us to return to their habitual and permanent
enmity against each other. That the Governor-General and Council, in their letter of 31st August, 1781,
made the following declaration to the Court of Directors. " The Mahrattas have demanded the sacrifice of
the person of Ragonaut Row, the surrender of the fort
and territories of Ahmedabad, and of the fortress of
Gualior, which are not ours to give, and which we could
not wrest from the proprietors without the greatest violation of public faith. No state of affairs, in our opinions, could warrant our acquiescence to such requisition; and we are morally certain, that, had we yielded to them, such a consciousness of the state of our affairs would have been implied as would have produced
an effect the very reverse from that for which it was
intended, by raising the presumption of the enemy to
exact yet more ignominious terms, or perhaps their
refusal to accept of any; nor, in our opinion, would
they have failed to excite in others the same belief,
and the consequent decision of all parties against us,
as the natural consequences of our decline. " That
the said Hastings himself, in his instructions to Mr.
? ? ? ? 256 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
David Anderson, after authorizing him to restore all
that we had conquered during the wari, expressly
" excepted Ahmedabad, and the territory conquered
for Futty Sing Gwicowar. " That, nevertheless, the
said Hastings, in the peace concluded by him, has
yielded to every one of the conditions reprobated in
the preceding declarations as ignominious and incompatible with public faith.
That the said Warren Hastings did abandon the
Ranna of Gohud in the manner already charged; and
that the said Ranna has not only lost the fort of
Gualior, but all his own country, and is himself a prisoner. That the said Hastings did not interpose to obtain any terms in favor of the Nabob of Bopaul, who was with great reason desirous of concealing from the
-Mahrattas the attachment he had borne to the English
government' the said Nabob having a just dread of
the danger of being exposed to the resentment of the
Mahrattas, and no dependence on the faith and protection of the English. That by the ninth article
of the treaty with Futty Sing it was stipulated, that,
when a negotiation for peace should take place, his
"interest should be primarily considered; and that
Mr. David Anderson, the minister and representative
of the Governor-General and Council, did declare to
Sindia, that it was indispensably incumbent on us
to support Futty Sing's rights: that, nevertheless,
every acquisition made for or by the said Futty Sing
during the war, particularly the fort and territories of
Ahmedabad, were given up by the said Hastings; that
Futty Sing was replaced under the subjection of the
Peshwa, (whose resentment he had provoked by taking part with us in the war,) and under an obligation
* Anderson's letter of 26th January, 1782.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 257
to pay a tribute, not specified, to the Peshwa, and to
perform such services and to be subject to such obedience as had long been established and customary; and that, no limit being fixed to such tribute or services,
the said Futty Sing has been left wholly at the mercy
of the Mahrattas.
That, with respect to Ragoba, the said Hastings, in
his instructions to Mr. Anderson, dated 4th of November, 1781, contented himself with saying,'" We
cannot totally abandon the interests of Ragonaut
Row. Endeavor to obtain for him an adequate provision. " That Mr. Anderson declared to Mahdajee
Sindia, " that, as we had given Ragoba protection
as all independent prince, and not brought him into our settlement as a prisoner, we could not in
honor pretend to impose the smallest restraint on his
will, and he must be at liberty to go wherever he
pleased; that it must rest with Sindia himself to
prevail on him to reside in his country: all tha. t
we could do was to agree, after a reasonable time,
to withdraw our protection from him, and not to insist on the payment of the stipend to him, as Sindia
had proposed, unless on the condition of his residing in some part of Sindia's territories. "
That, notwithstanding all the preceding declarations, and in violation of the public faith repeatedly
pledged to Ragoba, he was totally abandoned by the
said Hastings in the treaty, no provision whatever
being made even for his subsistence, but on a condition to which he could not submit without the
certain loss of his liberty and probable hazard of
his life, namely, that he should voluntarily and of his
own accord repair to Sindia, and quietly reside with
* Anderson's letter of 24th February, 1782.
VOL. IX. 17
? ? ? ? 258 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
him. That such treacherous desertion of the said
Ragoba is not capable of being justified by any plea
of necessity: but that in fact no such necessity existed; since it appears that the Nizam, who of all the
contracting parties in the confederacy was personally most hostile to Ragoba, did himself propose that
Ragoba might have an option given him of residing
within the Company's territories.
That the plan of negotiating a peace with the
Mahrattas by application to Sindia, and through
his mediation, was earnestly recommended to the
said Hastings by the Presidency of Bombay so early
as in February, 1779, who stated clearly to him the
reasons why such application ought to be made to
Sindia in preference to any other of the Mabratta
chlliefs, and why it would probably be successful;
the truth and justice of which reasons were fully
evinced in the issue, when the said Hastings, after
incurring, by two years' delay, all the losses and
distresses of a calamitous war, did actually pursue
that very plan with much less effect or advantage
than might have been obtained at the time the
advice was given. That he neglected the advice
of the Presidency of Bombay, and retarded the
peace, as well as made its conditions worse, from
an obstinate attachment to his project of an alliance offensive and defensive with the Rajah of Berar, the object of which was rather a new war than a termination of the war then existing against the
Peshwa.
That the said Hastings did further embarrass and
retard the conclusion of a peace by employing different ministers at the courts of the several confedwrate powers, whom he severally empowered to
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 259
treat and negotiate a peace. That these ministers,
not acting in concert, not knowing the extent of
each other's commissions, and having no instructions to communicate their respective proceedings
to each other, did in effect counteract their several
negotiations. That this want of concert and of
simplicity, and the mystery and intricacy in the
mode of conducting the negotiation on our part,
was complained of by our ministers as embarrassing and disconcerting to us, while it was advantageous to the adverse party, who were thereby furnished with opportunity and pretence for delay, when it suited their purpose, and enabled to play
off one set of negotiators against another; that it
also created jealousy and distrust in the various
contending parties, with whom we were treating at
the same time, and to whom we were obliged to
make contradictory professions, while it betrayed
and exposed to them all our own eagerness and
impatience for peace, raising thereby the general
claims and pretensions of the enemy. That, while
Dalhousie Watherston, Esquire, was treating at
Poonah, and David Anderson, Esquire, in Sindia's
camp, with separate powers applied to the same object, the minister at Poonah informed the said Watherston, that he had received proposals for peace
from the Nabob of Arcot with the approbation of Sir
Eyre Coote; that he had returned other proposals
to the said Nabob of Arcot, who had assured him,
the minister, that those proposals would be acceded to,
and that Mr. Macpherson would set out for Bengal, after which orders should be immediately dispatched from
the Honorable the Governor- General and Council to the
effect he wished; that the said Nabob "l had prom
? ? ? ? 260 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ised to obtain and forward to him the expected
orders from Bengal in fifteen days, and that he was
therefore every instant ill expectation of their arrival, and observed, that, when General Goddard proposed to send a confidential person to Poonah,
he conceived that those orders must have actually
reached him-": that therefore the treaty formally
concluded by David Anderson was in effect and
substance the same with that offered and in reality
concluded by the Nabob of Arcot, with the exception only of Salsette, which the Nabob of Arcot had agreed to restore to the Mahrattas.
That the intention of the said Warren Hastings,
in pressing for a peace with the Mahrattas on terms
so dishonorable and by measures so rash and illconcerted, was not to restore and establish a general peace throughout India, but to engage the India
Company in a new war against Hyder Ali, and
to make the Mahrattas parties therein. That the
eagerness and passion with which the said Hastings
pursued this object laid him open to the Mahrattas,
who depended thereon for obtaining whatever they
should demand from us. That, in order to carry
the point of an offensive alliance against Hyder Ali,
the said Hastings exposed the negotiation for peace
with the Mahrattas to many difficulties and delays.
That the Mahrattas were bound by a clear and recent engagement, which Hyder had never violated in any article, to make no peace with us which
should not include him; that they pleaded the sacred nature of this obligation in answer to all our requisitions on this head, while the said Hastings,
still importunate for his favorite point, suggested
to them various means of reconciling a substantial
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 261
breach of their engagement with a formal observance
of it, and taught them how they might at once be
parties in a peace with Hyder Ali and in an offensive alliance for immediate hostility against him. .
That these lessons of public duplicity and artifice,
and these devices of ostensible faith and real treachery, could have no effect but to degrade the national
character, and to inspire the Mahrattas themselves,
with whom we were in treaty, with a distrust in our
sincerity and good faith. That the object of this
fraudulent policy (viz. , the utter destruction of Hyder Ali, and a partition of his dominions) was neither wise in itself, or authorized by the orders and instructions of the Company to their servants; that
it was incompatible with the treaty of'peace, inl
which Hyder Ali was included, and contrary to the
repeated and best-understood injunctions of the Company,-being, in the first place, a bargain for a
new war, and, in the next, aiming at an extension
of our territory by conquest. That the best and
soundest political opinions on the relations of these
states have always represented our great security
against the power of the Mahrattas to depend on
its being balanced by that of Hyder Ali; and the
Mysore country is so placed as a barrier between
the Carnatic and the Mahrattas as to make it our
interest rather to strengthen and repair that barrier
than to level and destroy it. That the said treaty
of partition does express itself to be eventual with
regard to the making and keeping of peace; but
through the whole course of the said Hastings's proceeding he did endeavor to prevent any peace with
the Sultan or Nabob of Mysore, Tippoo Sahib, and
did for a long time endeavor to frustrate all the
? ? ? ? 262 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
methods which could have rendered the said treaty
of conquest and partition wholly unnecessary.
That the Mahrattas having taken no effectual step
to oblige Hyder Ali to make good the conditions for
which they had engaged in his behalf, and the war
continuing to be carried on in the Carnatic by Tippoo Sultan, soni and successor of Hyder Ali, the
Presidency of Fort St. George undertook, upon their
own authority, to open a negotiation with the said Tippoo: which measure, though indispensably necessary,
the said Hastings utterly disapproved and discountenanced, expressly denying that there was any ground
or motive for entering into any direct or separate
treaty with Tippoo, and not consenting to or authorizing any negotiation for such treaty, until after a
cessation of hostilities had been brought about with
him by the Presidency of Fort St. George, in August,
1773, and the ministers of Tippoo had been received
and treated with by that Presidency, and commissioners, in return, actually sent by the said Presidency to
the court of Poonah: which late and reluctant consent and authority were extorted from him, the said
Hastings, in consequence of the acknowledgment of
his agent at the court of Mahdajee Sindia, upon whom
the said Warren Hastings had depended for enforcing the clauses of the Mahratta treaty, of the precariousness of such dependence, and of the necessity of that direct and separate treaty with Tippoo, so long
and so lately reprobated by the said Warren Hastings,
notwithstanding the information and entreaties of the
Presidency of Fort St. George, as well as the known
distresses and critical situation of the Company's affairs. That, though the said Warren Hastings did at
length give instructions for negotiating and making
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 263
peace with Tippoo, expressly adding, that those instructions extended to all the points which occurred
to him or them as capable of being agitated or gained
upon the occasion, -though the said instructions were
sent after the said commissioners by the Presidency
of Fort St. George, with directions to obey them, -
though not only the said instructions were obeyed,
but advantages gained which did not occur to the
said Warren Hastings, - though the said peace
formed a contrast with the Mahratta peace, in neither ceding any territory possessed by the Company
before the war, or delivering up any dependant or ally
to the vengeance of his adversaries, but providing for
the restoration of all the countries that had been taken
from the Company and their allies, - though the Supreme Council of Calcutta, forming the legal government of Bengal in the absence of the said Warren Hastings, ratified the said treaty, - yet the said Warren Hastings, then absent from the seat of government, and out of the province of Bengal, and forming no legal or integral part of the government during
such absence, did, after such ratification, usurp the
power of acting as a part of such government (as if
actually sitting in Council with the other members of
the same) in the consideration and unqualified ceinsure of the terms of the said peace.
That the Nabob of Arcot, with whom the said Hastings did keep up an unwarrantable clandestine correspondence, without any communication with the Presidency of Madras, wrote a letter of complaint,
dated the 27tlh of March, 1784, against the Presidency of that place, without any communication
thereof to the said Presidency, the said complaint
being addressed to the said Warren Hastings, the
? ? ? ? . 264 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
substance of which complaint was, that he, the Nabob, had not been made a party to the late treaty;
and although his interest had been sufficiently pro,
vided for in the said treaty, the said Warren Hast.
ings did sign a declaration, on the 23d of May, at
Lucknow, forming the -basis of a new article, and
making a new party to the treaty, after it had been
by all parties (the Supreme Council of Calcutta included) completed and ratified, and did transmit
the said new stipulation to the Presidency at Calcutta, solely for the purposes and at the instigation
of the Nabob of Arcot; and the said declaration was
made without any previous communication with the
Presidency aforesaid, and in consequence thereof
orders were sent by the Council at Calcutta to the
Presidency of Fort St. George, under the severest
threats in case qf disobedience: which orders, whatever were their purport, would, as an undue assumption of alid participation in the government, from
which he was absent, become a high misdemeanor;
but, being to. the purport of opening the said treaty
after its solemn ratification, and proposing a new
clause and a new party to the same, was also an aggravation of such misdemeanor, as it tended to convey to the Indian powers an idea of the unsteadiness of the councils and determinations of the British government, and to take away all reliance on its. engagements, and as, above all, it exposed the affairs of
the nation and the Company to the hazard of seeing
renewed all the calamities of war, from whence by
the conclusion of the treaty they had emerged, and
upon a pretence so weak as that of proposing the Nabob of Arcot to be a party to the same, - though he
had not been made a party by the. said Warren Hast
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 265
ings in the Mahratta treaty, which professed to be for
the relief of the Carnatic, - though he was not a
party to the former treaty with Ryder, also relative
to the Carnatic, -- though it was not certain, if the
treaty were once opened, and that even Tippoo should
then consent to that Nabob's being a party, whether
he, the said Nabob, would agree to the clauses of the
same, and consequently whether the said treaty, once
opened, could afterwards be concluded: an uncertainty of which he, the said Hastings, should have learned to be aware, having already once been disappointed by the said Nabob's refusing to accede to a treaty which he, the said Warren Hastings, made for
him with the Dutch, about a year before.
That the said Warren Hastings, - having broken a
solemn and honorable treaty of peace by an unjust
and unprovoked war, - having neglected to conclude
that war when he might have done it without loss of
honor to the nation, - having plotted and contrived,
as far as depended on. him, to engage the India Company in another war as soon as the former should be concluded, - and having at last put an end to a most
unjust war against the Mahrattas by a most ignominious peace with them, in which he sacrificed objects essential to the interests, and submitted to conditions
utterly incompatible with the honor of this nation,
and with his own declared sense of the dishonorable
nature of those conditions,- and having endeavored
to open anew the treaty concluded with Tippoo Sultan through the means of the Presidency of Fort
St. George, upon principles of justice and honor, and.
which established peace in India, and thereby exposing the British possessions there to the renewal of the dangers and calamities of war, --has by these
? ? ? ? 266 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
several acts been guilty of sundry highlcrimes and
misdemeanors.
XXI. - CORRESPONDENCE.
THAT, by an act of the 13t! l year of his present
Majesty, intituled, "An act for establishing certain
regulations for the better management of the affairs
of the East India Company, as well ill India as in Europe," "the Governor-General and Council are required and directed to pay due obedience to all such orders as they shall receive from the Court of Directors of the said United Company, and to correspond
from time to time, and constantly and diligently
transmit to the said Court all exact particular of all
advices or intelligence and of all transactions and
matters whatsoever that shall come to their knowledge, relating to the government, commerce, revenues, or interest of the said United Company. "' That, ill consequence of the above-recited act, the
Court of Directors, in their general instructions of
the 29th March, 1774, to the Governor-General and
Council, did direct, "that the correspondence with
the princes or country powers ill India should be
carried on through the Governor-General only; but
that a11 letters to be sent by him should be first approved in Council; and that he should lay before the
Council, at their next meeting, all letters received by
him in the course of such correspondence, for their
information. "
And the Governor-General and Council were therein further ordered, "that, in transacting the business
of their department, they should enter with the utmost perspicuity and exactness all their proceedings
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 267
whatsoever, and all dissents, if such should at any
time be made by any member of their board, together
with all letters sent or received in- the course of their
correspondence; and that broken sets of such proceedings, to the latest period possible, be transmitted
to them [the Court of Directors], a complete set at
the end of every year, and a duplicate by the next
conveyance. "
That, in defiance of the said orders, and in breach
of the above-recited act of Parliament, the said Warren Hastings has, in sundry instances, concealed
from his Council the correspondence carried on between him and the princes or country powers in India, and neglected to communicate the advices and intelligence he from time to time received from the
British Residents at the different courts in India to
the other members of the government, and, without
their knowledge, counsel, or participation, has dispatched orders on matters of the utmost consequence
to the interests of the Company.
That, moreover, the said Warren Hastings, for the
purpose of covering his own improper and dangerous
practices from his employers, has withheld from the
Court of Directors, upon sundry occasions, copies of
the proceedings had, and the correspondence carried
on by him in his official capacity as Governor-General, whereby the Court of Directors have been kept in
ignorance of matters which it highly imported them
to know, and the affairs of the Company have been
exposed to much inconvenience and injury.
That, in all such concealments and acts done or
ordered without the consent and authority of the Supreme Council, the said Warren Hastings has been
guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.
? ? ? ? 268 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
XXII. - FYZOOLA KHAN.
PART I.
RIGHTS OF FYZOOLA RHAN, ETC. , BEFORE THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG.
I. THAT the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, who now holds
of the Vizier the territory of Rampoor, Shahabad, and
certain other districts dependent thereon, in the country of the Rohillas, is the second son of a prince renowned in the history of Hindostan under the name of Ali Mohammed Khan, some time sovereign of all
that part of Rohilcund which is particularly distinguished by the appellation of the Kuttcehr.
II. That, after the death of Ali Mohammed aforesaid, as Fyzoola Khan, together with his elder brother,
was then a prisoner of war at a place called Herat,
"' the Rohilla chiefs took possession of the ancient estates" of the captive princes; and the Nabob Fyzoola Khan was from necessity compelled. to waive his *hereditary rights for the inconsiderable districts of
Rampoor and Shahabad, then estimated to produce
from six to eight lacs of annual revenue.
III. That in 1774, on the invasion of Rohilcund by
the united armies of the Vizier Sujah ul Dowlah and
the Company, the Nabob Fyzoola K:han, "with some
of his people, was present at the decisive battle of St.
George," where lHafiz Rhamet, the great leader of the
Rohillas, and many others of their principal chiefs
were slain; but, escaping from the slaughter, Fyzoola
Khllan " made his retreat good towards the mountains,
with all his treasure. " He there collected the scat
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 269
tered remains of his countrymen; and as he was the
eldest surviving son of Ali Mohammed Khan, as, too,
the most powerful obstacle to his pretensions was now
removed by the death of Hafiz, he seems at length to
have been generally acknowledged by his natural subjects the undoubted heir of his father's authority.
IV. That, "regarding the sacred sincerity and
friendship of the English, whose goodness and celebrity is everywhere known, who dispossess no one," the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan made early overtures for peace
to Colonel Alexander Champion, commander-in-chief
of the Company's forces in Bengal: that he did propose to the said Colonel Alexander Champion, in
three letters, received on the 14th, 24th, and 27th of
May, to put himself under the protection either of
the Company, or of the Vizier, through the mediation
and with the guaranty of the Company; and that he
did offer, " whatever was conferred upon him, to pay
as much without damage or deficiency as any other
person would agree to do ": stating; at the same time,
his condition and pretensions hereinbefore recited as
facts " evident as the sun "; and appealing, in a forcible and awful manner, to the generosity and magnanimity of this nation, " by whose means he hoped in God that he should receive justice "; and as " the person who designed the war was no more," as " in that
he was himself guiltless," and as " he had never acted in such a manner as for the Vizier to have taken
hatred to his heart against him, that he might be
reinstated in his ancient possessions, the country of
his father. "
V. That on the last of the three dates above men
? ? ? ? 270 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tioned, that is to say, on the 27th of May, the Nabob
Fyzoola Khan did also send to the commander-inchief a vakeel, or ambassador, who was authorized
on the part of him, the Nabob Fyzoola Khain, his
master, to make a specific offer of three propositions; and that by one of the said propositions " an
annual increase of near 400,0001. would have accrued to the revenues of our ally, and the immediate acquisition of above 300,0001. to the Company, for their influence in effecting an accommodation
perfectly consistent with their engagements to the
Vizier," and strictly consonant to the demands of
justice.
VI. That, so great was the confidence of the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan in the just, humane, and liberal feelings of Englishmen, as to "lull him into
an inactivity" of the most essential detriment to
his interests: since, "in the hopes which he entertained from the interposition of our government,"
he declined the invitation of the Mogul to join the
arms of his Majesty and the Mahrattas, "refused
any connection with the Seiks," and did even neglect to take the obvious precaution of crossing the
Ganges, as he had originally intended, while the
river was yet fordable, -- a movement that would
have enabled him certainly to baffle, all pursuit, and
probably "to keep the Vizier in a state of disquietude for the remainder of his life. "
VII. That the commander-in-chief, Colonel Alexander Champion aforesaid, "'thought nothing could
be more honorable to this nation than the support
of so exalted a character; and whilst it could be
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 271
done on terms so advantageous, supposed it very
unlikely that the vakeel's proposition should be received with indifference"; that he did accordingly
refer it to the administration through Warren Hastings, Esquire, then Governor of Fort William and
President of Bengal; and he did at the same time
inclose to the said Warren Hastings a letter from
the Nabob Fyzoola Khan to the said Hastings,which letter does not appear, but must be supposed
to have been of the same tenor with those before
cited to the commander-in-chief, - of which also
copies were sent to the said Hastings by the commander-in-chief; and he, the commander-ill-chief
aforesaid, after urging to the said Hastings sundry
good and cogent arguments of policy and prudence
in favor of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, did conclude
by " wishing for nothing so much as for the adoption of some measure that might strike all the powers of the East with admiration of our justice, in contrast to the conduct of the Vizier. "
VIII. That, in answer to such laudable wish of
the said commander-in-chief, the President, Warren
Hastings, preferring his own prohibited plans of
extended dominion to the, mild, equitable, and wise
policy inculcated in the standing orders of his superiors, and now enforced by the recommendation
of the commander-in-chief, did instruct and " desire" him, the said commander-in-chief, "instead
of soliciting the Vizier to relinquish his conquest
to Fyzoola Khan, to discourage it as much as was
in his power"; although the said Hastings did not
once express, or even intimate, any doubt whatever
of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan's innocence as to the
? ? ? ? 272 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
origin of the war, or of his hereditary right to the
territories which he claimed, but to the said pleas
of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, as well as to the arguments both of policy and justice advanced by the
commander-in-chief, he, the said Hastings, did solely
oppose certain speculative objects of imagined expediency, summing up his decided rejection of the
proposals made by the Nabob Fyzoola Khan in the
following remarkable words. " With respect to Fyzoola Khan, he appears not to merit our consideration.
The petty sovereign of a country estimated at six or
eight lacs ought not for a moment to prove an impediment to any of our measures, or to affect the consistency of our conduct. " IX. That, in the aforesaid violent and arbitrary
position, the said Warren Hastings did avow it to
be a public principle of his government, that no
right, however manifest, and no innocence, however
unimpeached, could entitle the weak to our protection against others, or save them from our own
active endeavors for their oppression, and even extirpation, should they interfere with our notions of
political expediency; and that such a principle is
highly derogatory to the justice and honor of the
English name, and fundamentally injurious to our
interests, inasmuch as it hath an immediate tendency to excite distrust, jealousy, fear, and hatred
against us among all the subordinate potentates of
Hindostan.
X. That, in prosecution of the said despotic
principle, the President, Warren Hastings aforesaid,
did persist to obstruct, as far as in him lay, every
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 273
advance towards an accommodation between the
Vizier Sujah ul Dowlah and the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan; and particularly on the 16th of September,
only eight days after the said Hastings, in conjunction with the other members of the Select Committee
of Bengal, had publicly testified his satisfaction in
the prospect of an accommodation,. and had hoped
that " his Excellency [the Vizier] would be disposed
to conciliate the affections [of the Rohillas] to his
government by acceding to lenient terms," he, the
said Hastings, did nevertheless write, and without
the consent or knowledge'of his colleagues did privately dispatch, a certain answer to a letter of the;
commander-in-chief, in which answer the said Hastings did express other contradictory hopes, namely,
that the commander-in-chief had resolved on prosecuting the war to a final issue, -" because " (as the
said Hastings explains himself) "it appears very
plainly that Fyzoola KIhan and his adherents lay
at your mercy, because I apprehend much inconveniency from delays, and because I am morally certain that no good will be gained by negotiating":
thereby artfully suggesting his wishes of what might
be, in his hopes of what had been, resolved; and
plainly, though indirectly, instigating the commander-in-chief to much effusion of blood in an immediate attack on the Rohillas, posted as they were "in
a very strong situation," and " combating for all. "
XI. That the said Hastings, in the answer aforesaid, did further endeavor to inflame the commanderin-chief against the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, by representing the said Nabob "as highly presuming, insolent, and evasive"; and knowing the distrust which VOL. IX. 18
? ? ? ? 274 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the Nabob Fyzoola Khan entertained of the VAizier,
the said Hastings did " expressly desire it should be
left wholly to the Vizier to treat with the enemy by
his own agents and in his own manner," - though he,
the said Hastings, " by no means wished the Vizier
to lose time by seeking an accommodation, since it
would be more. effectual, more decisive, and more
consistent with his dignity, indeed with his honor, which
he has already pledged, to abide by his first offers, to
dictate the conditions of peace, and to admit only
an acceptance without reservation, or a clear refusal,
from his adversary": thereby affecting to hold up,
ill opposition to a. nd in exclusion of the substantial
claims of justice, certain ideal obligations of dignity
and honor, - that is to say, the gratification of pride,. and the observance of an arrogant determination once,declared.
XII.
That, although the said answer did not reach
the commander-in-chief until peace was actually concluded, and although the dangerous consequences to'be apprehended from the said answer were thereby -prevented, yet, by the sentiments contained in the
-said answer, Warren Hastings, Esquire, did strongly
evince his ultimate adherence to all the former violent and unjust principles of his conduct towards the
Nabob Fyzoola Khafn, which principles were disgraceful to the character and injurious to the interests of
this nation; and that the said Warren Hastings did
thereby, in a particular manner, exclude himself from
any share of credit for " tlhe honorable period put to,the Rohilla war, which has in some degree done away
tlle reproach so wantonly brought on the English
nlane. 1"
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 275
PART II.
RIGHTS OF FYZOOLA KHAN UNDER THE TREATY OF
LALL-DANG.
I. THEAT, notwithstanding the culpable and criminal reluctance of the President, Hastings, hereinbefore recited, a treaty of peace and friendship between
the Vizier Sujah ul Dowlah and the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan was finally signed and sealed on the 7th October, 1774, at a place called Lall-Dang, in the presence and with the attestation of the British commander-in-chief, Colonel Alexander Champion aforesaid; and that for the said treaty the Nabob Fyzoola Khan
agreed to pay, and did actually pay, the valuable coinsideration of half his treasure, to the amount of fifteen
lacs of rupees, or 150,0001. sterling, and upwards.
II. That by the said treaty the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan was established in the quiet possession of Rampoor, Shahabad, and 1" some other districts dependent
thereon," subject to certain conditions, of which the
more important were as follow.
" That Fyzoola Khan should retain in his service
five thousand troops, and not a single man more.
"That, witlh whomsoever the Vizier should make
war, Fyzoola Khan should. send two or three thousand
men, according to his ability, to join the forces of the
Vizier.
" And that, if the Vizier should march in person,
Fyzoola Khan should himself accompany him with
his troops. "
III. That from the terms of the treaty above recited it doth plainly, positively, and indisputably ap
? ? ? ? 276 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
pear that the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, in case of war,
was not bound to fiurnish more than three thousand
men under any construction, unless the Vizier should
march in person.
IV. That the Nabob Fyzoola Khan was not posi
tively bound to furnish so many as three thousand
men, but an indefinite number, not more than three
and not less than two thousand; that of the precise
number within such limitations the ability of Fyzoola
Kh'an, and not the discretion of the Vizier, was to be
the standard; and that such ability could only mean
that which was equitably consistent not only with the
external defence of his jaghire, but with the internal
good management thereof, both as to its police and
revenue.
V. That, even in case the Vizier should march in
person, it might be reasonably doubted whether tlie
personal service of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan "with
his troops" must be understood to be with all his
troops, or only with the number before stipulated,
not more than three and not less than two thousand
men; and that the latter is the interpretation finaIly
adopted by Warren. Hastings aforesaid, and the Council of Bengal, who, in a letter to the Court of Directors, dated April 5th, 1783, represent the clauses of the treaty relative to the stipulated aid as meaning
simply that Fyzoola IKhnll " should send two or three
thousand meni to join thle Vizier's forces, or attend in
person in case it should be requisite. "
VI. That from the aforesaid terms of the treaty it
doth not specifically appear of what the stipulated aid
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 277
should consist, whether of horse or foot, or in what
proportion of both; but that it is the recorded opinion,
maturely formed by the said Hastings and his Council, in January, 1783, that even " a single horseman included in the aid which Fyzoola Kh'an might furnish would prove a literal compliance with the stipulation. " VII. That, in the event of any doubt fairly arising from the terms of the treaty, the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan, in consideration of his hereditary right to the
whole country, and the price by him actually paid for
the said treaty, was in equity entitled to the most favorable construction.
VIII. That, from the attestation of Colonel Champion aforesaid, the government of Calcutta acquired
the same right to interpose with the Vizier for the. protection of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan as they, the
said government, had before claimed from a similar
attestation. of Sir Robert Barker to assist the Vizier
in extirpating the whole nation of the said Fyzoola
Khlan, - more especially as in the case of Sir Robert
Barker it was contrary to the remonstrances of the
then administration, and the furthest from the intentions of the said Barker himself, that his attestation should involve the Company, but the attestation of
Colonel Champion was authorized by all the powers
of the government, as a" sanction " intended " to add
validity " to the treaty; that they, the said government, and in particular the said Warren H-lastings, as
the first executive member of the same, were bound
by the ties of natural justice duly to exercise the
aforesaid right, if' need were; and tlhat their duty so
? ? ? ? 278 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
to interfere was more particularly enforced by the
spirit of the censures passed both by the Directors
and Proprietors in the Rohilla war, and the satisfaction expressed by the Directors "' in the honorable
end put to that war. "
PART III.
GUARANTY OF THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG.
I. THAT during the life of tile Vizier Sujah ul
Dowlali, and for some time after his death, under his
son and successor, Asoph ul Dowlah, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan did remain without disturbance or molestation; that he did all the while imagine his treaty to be under the sanction of the Company, from Colonel Champion's affixing his signature thereto as a
witness, "which signature, as he [Fyzoola Khan]
supposed," rendered the Company the arbitrators between the Vizier and himself, in case of disputes;
and that, being " a man of sense, but extreme pusillanimity, a good farmer, fond of wealth, not possessed
of the passion of ambition," he did peaceably apply
himself to "improve the state of his country, and
did, by his owon prudence and attention, increase the
revenues thereof beyond the amount specified in Sujah ul Dowlah's grant. "
II. That in the year 1777, and in the beginning
of the year 1778, being " alarmed at the young Vizier's resumption of a number of jaghires granted by
his father to different persons, and the injustice and
oppression of his conduct in general," and having
now learned (from whom does not appear, but probably from some person supposed of competent author
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 279
ity) that Colonel Champion formerly witnessed the
treaty as a private person, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan
did make frequent and urgent solicitations to Nathaniel Middletoll, Esquire, then Resident at Oude, and to
Warren Hastings aforesaid, then Governor-General of
Bengal, " for a renovation of his [the Nabob Fyzoola
Kha'n's] treaty with the late Vizier, and the guaranty
of the Company," or for. a " separate agreement with
the Company for his defence ": considering them, the
Company, as " the only power in which he had confidence, and to which he could look up for protection. "
III. That the said Resident Middleton, and the said
Governor-General Hastings, did not, as they were in
duty bound to do, endeavor to allay the apprehensions
of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan by assuring him of his
safety under the sanction of Colonel Champion's attestation aforesaid, but by their criminal neglect, if
not by positive expressions, (as there is just ground
from their subsequent language and conduct to belie. ve,) they, -the said Middleton and the said Hastings, did at least keep alive and confirm (whoever may have originally suggested) the said apprehension;
and that such neglect alone was the more highly culpable in the said Hastings, inasmuch as he, the said
Hastings, in'conjunction with other members of the
Select Committee of the then Presidency of Bengal,
did, on the 17th of September, 1774, write to Colonel
Champion aforesaid, publicly authorizing him, the said
Colonel Champion, to join his sanction to the accommodations agreed on between the Vizier Sujah ul
Dowlah and the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, to add to their
validity,- and on the 6th of October following did
again write to the said Colonel Champion, more ex
? ? ? ? 280 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
plicitly, to join his sanction, "either by attesting the
treaty, or acting as guaranty on the part of the Company for the performance of it": both which letters,
though they did not arrive until after the actual
signature of the said Colonel Champion, do yet incontrovertibly mark the solemn intention of the said
Committee (of which the said Hastings was President)
that the sanction of Colonel Champion's attestation
should be regarded as a public, not a private, sanction;
and it was more peculiarly incumbent on such persons,
who had been members of the said Committee, so to
regard the same.
IV. That the said Warren Hastings was further
guilty of much criminal concealment for the space of
"' twelve months," inasmuch as he did not lay before
the board the frequent and urgent solicitations which
he, the said Hastings, was continually receiving from
the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, until the 9th of March,
1778; on which day the said Hastings did communicate to the Council a public letter of- the aforesaid
Middleton, Resident at Oude, acquainting the board
that he, the said Middleton, taking occasion from a
late application of Fyzoola Khan for the Company's
guaranty, had deputed Mr. Daniel Octavus Barwell
(Assistant Resident at Benares, but themi on a visit to
the Resident Middleton at Lucknow) to proceed with
a special commission to Rampoor, there to inquire oil
the spot into the truth of certain reports circulated to
the prejudice of Fyzoola Khan, which reports, however, the said Middleton did afterwards confess himself to have " always " thought " in the highest degree improbable. "
That the said Resident Middleton did " request to
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 281
know whether, on proof of Fyzoola Khan's innocence,
the honorable board would be pleased to grant him
[the Resident] permission to comply with his [Fyzoola Kihan's] request of the Company's guarantying his treaty with the Vizier. " And the said Middleton, in
excuse for having irregularly " availed himself of the
abilities of Mr. Daniel Barwell," who belonged to another station, and for deputing him with the aforesaid commission to Rampoor without the previous knowledge of the board, did urge the plea " of immediate necessity "; and that such plea, if the necessity really
existed, was a strong charge and accusation against
the said Warren Hastings, from whose criminal neglect and concealment the urgency of such necessity did arise.
V. That the Governor-General, Warren Hastings
aforesaid, did immediately move, that the board approve the deputation of Mr. Daniel Barwell, and that the Resident [Middleton] be authorized to offer the
Company's guaranty for the observance of the treaty
subsisting between the Vizier and Fyzoola Khan, provided it meets with the Vizier's concurrence"; and that the Governor-General's proposition was resolved
in the affirmative: the usual majority of Council
then consisting of Richard Barwell, Esquire, a near
relation of Daniel Octavus Barwell aforesaid, and the
Governor-General, Warren Hastings, who, in case of
anl equality, had the casting voice.
VI. That, on receiving from Mr. Daniel Barwell
full and early assurance of Fyzoola Khan's " having
preserved every article of his treaty inviolate," the
Resideit, Middleton, applied for the Vizier's concur
? ? ? ? 282 ARTICLES -OF CHARGE
rence, which was readily obtained, - the Vizier, however, "premising, that he gave his consent, taking it
for granted, that, on Fyzoola Khan's receiving the
treaty and khelaut [or robe of honor], he was to
make him a return of the complimentary presents
usually offered on such occasions, and of such an
amount as should be a manifestation of Fyzoola JAhdn's
due sense of his friendship, and suitable to his Excellency's rank to receive"; and that the Resident, Middleton, " did make himself in some measure responsible for the said presents being obtained," and did write to Mr. Daniel Barwell accordingly.
VII. That, agreeably to the resolution of Council
hereinbefore recited, the solicited guaranty, under
the seal of the Resident, Middleton, thus duly authorized on behalf of the Company, was transmitted,
together with the renewed treaty, to Mr. Daniel Barwell aforesaid at Rampoor, and that they were both by
him, the said Barwell, presented to the Nabob Fyzooia
Kha'n, with a solemnity not often paralleled, "in the
presence of the greatest part of the Nabob's subjects,
who were assembled, that the ceremony might create
a full belief in the breasts of all his people that thlle
Company would protect him as long as he strictly
adhered to the letter of his treaty. "
VIII. That, in the conclusion of the said ceremony, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan did deliver to the said
Barwell, for the use of the Vizier, a nuzzer (or present) of elephants, horses, &c. , and did add thereto a
lac of rupees, or 10,0001. and upwards: which sum
the said Barwell, "not being authorized to accept
any pecuniary consideration, did at first refuse; but
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 283
upon Fyzoola KhAn's urging, that on such occasions
it was the invariable custom of Hindostan, and that
it must on, the present be expected, as it had been formerly the case," (but when does not appear,) he, the said Barwell, did accept the said lac in the name of
the Vizier, our ally, "in whose wealth " (as Warren
Hastings on another occasion observed) "we should
participate," and on whom we at that time had an
accumulating demand.
IX. That, over and above the lac of rupees thus
presented to the Vizier, the Nabob Fyzoola Kh'an did
likewise offer one other lac of rupees, or upwards of
10,0001. more, for the Company, " as some acknowledgment of the obligation he received; that, although such acknowledgment was not pretended to be the
invariable custom of Hindostan on such occasions,
however it might on the present be expected," Mr.
Daniel Barwell aforesaid (knowing, probably, the disposition and views of the then actual government at Calcutta) did not, even at first, decline the said offer, but, as he was not empowered to accept it, did immediately propose taking a bond for the amount,
until the pleasure of the board should be known.
That the offer was accordingly communicated by
the said Barwell to the Resident, Middleton, to be by
him, the Resident, referred to the board, and that it
was so referred; that, in reply to the said reference
of the Resident, Middleton, the Governor-General,
Warren Hastings, did move and carry a vote of Council, "authorizing Mr. Middleton to accept the offer
made by Fyzoola Khan to the Company of one lac
of rupees," without assigning any reason whatever in
support of the said motion, notwithstanding it was
? ? ? ? 284 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
objected by a member of the board, " that, if the measure was right, it became us to adopt it without such
a consideration," and that " our accepting of the lac
of rupees as a recompense for our interposition is beneath the dignity of this government [of Calcutta],
and will discredit us in the eyes of the Indian powers. "
That the acceptance of the said sum, in this circumstance, was beneath the dignity of the said government, and did tend so to discredit us; and that
the motion of the said Hastings for such acceptance
was therefore highly derogatory to the honor of this
nation.
X. That the aforesaid member of the- Council did
further disapprove altogether of the guaranty, "as
unnecessary "; and that another member of Council, Richard Barwell, Esquire, the near relation of
Daniel Octavus Barwell, hereinbefore named, did declare, (but after the said guaranty had taken place,)
that "' this government [of Calcutta] was in fact engaged by Colonel Champion's signature being to the
treaty with Fyzoola Khanl. " That the said unnecessary guaranty did not only subject to an heavy expense a prince whom we were bound to protect, but
did further produce in his mind the following obvious
and natural conclusion, namely, "that the signature
of any person, in whatever public capacity he at present
appears, will not be valid and of effect, as soon as some
other shall fill his station": a conclusion, however,
immediately tending to the total discredit of all powers delegated from the board to any individual servant of the Company, and consequently to clog, perplex, and embarrass in future all transactions carried on at a distance from the seat of government, and to
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 285
disturb the security of all persons possessing instruments already so ratified, -- yet the only conclusion
left to Fyzoola Kha'n which did not involve some affront either to the private honor of the Company's servants or to the public honor of the Company itself; and that the suspicions which originated from the said
idea in the breast of Fyzoola Khan to the prejudice
of the Resident Middleton's authority did compel the
Governor-General, Warren Hastings, to obviate the
bad effects of his first motion for the guaranty by a
second motion, namely, " That a letter be written to
Fyzoola Khan from myself, confirming the obligations
of the Company as guaranties to the treaty formed between him and the Vizier, - which will be equivalent
in its effect, though not in form, to an engagement
sent him with the Company's seal affixed to it. "
XII. That, whether the guaranty aforesaid was
or was not necessary, whether it created a new obligation or but more fully recognized an obligation
previously existing, the Governor-General, Warren
Hastings, by the said guaranty, did, in the most explicit manner, pledge and commit the public faith
of the Company and the nation; and that by the
subsequent letter of the said Hastings (which he at
his own motion wrote, confirming to Fyzoola Khan
the aforesaid guaranty) the said Hastings did again
pledge and commit the public faith of the Company
and the nation, in a manner (as the said Hastings
himself remarked) " equivalent to an engagement
with the Company's seal affixed to it," and more
particularly binding the said Hastings personally to
exact a due observance of the guarantied treaty, cs* Sic orig.
? ? ? ? 286 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
pecially to protect the Nabob Fyzoola Khan against
any arbitrary construction or unwarranted requisition of the Vizier.
PART IV.
THANKS OF THE BOARD TO FYZOOLA KHAN.
I. THAT, soon after the completion of the guaranty, in the same year, 1778, intelligence was received in India of a war between England and France; that, on the first intimation thereof, the
Nabob Fyzoola Khan, "being indirectly sounded,"
did show much " promptness to render the Company
any assistance within the bounds of his finances and
ability "; and that by the suggestion of the Resident,
Middleton, hereinbefore named, he, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, in a letter to the Governor-General and
Council, did make a voluntary " offer to maintain
two thousand cavalry (all le had) for our service,"
" though he was under no obligation to furnish the
Company with a single man. "
II. That the Nabob Fyzoola Khan did even "anticipate the wishes of the board"; and that, "on
an application made to him by Lieutenant-Colonel
Muir," the Nabob Fyzoola KhAn did, " without hesitation or delay," furnish him, the said Muir, with
five hundred of his best cavalry.
That the said conduct of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan
was communicated by the Company's servants both
to each other and to their employers, with expressions of " pleasure " and " particular satisfaction," as
an event " even surpassing their expectations "; that
the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, was officially
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 287
requested to convey "the thanks of the board"; and
that, not satisfied with the bare discharge of his duty
under the said request, he, the said Hastings, did,
on the 8th of January, 1779, write to Fyzoola, "that,
in his own name," as well as "that of the board,
he [the said Hastings] returned him the warmest
thanks for this instance of his faithful attachment
to the Company and the English nation. "
IV. * That by the strong expressions above recited the said Warren Hastings did deliberately and
emphatically add his own particular confirmation to
the general testimony of the Nabob Fyzoola KhAn's
meritorious fidelity, and of his consequent claim on
the generosity, no less than the justice, of the British government.
PART V.
DEMAND OF FIVE THOUSAND HORSE.
1. THAT, notwithstanding his own private honor
thus deeply engaged, notwithstanding the public justice and generosity of the Company and the nation
thus solemnly committed, disregarding the plain import and positive terms of the guarantied treaty, the
Governor-General, Warren Hastings aforesaid, in November, 1780, while a body of Fyzoola Khan's cavalry, voluntarily granted, were still serving under a British officer, did recommend to the Vizier " to require from Fyzoola Khan the quota of troops stipulated by treaty to be furnished by the latter for his [the Vizier's] service, being FIVE THOUSAND HORSE,"
though, as the Vizier did not march in person, he
* Sic orig.
? ? ? ? 288 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
was not, under any construction of the treaty, entitled by stipulation to more than " two or three thousand troops," horse and foot, " according to the ability of Fyzoola Kha'n "; and that, whereas the said Warren Hastings would have been guilty of very
criminal perfidy, if he had simply neglected to interfere as a guaranty against a demand thus plainly
contrary to the faith of treaty, so he aggravated the
guilt of his perfidy ill the most atrocious degree by
being himself the first mover and instigator of that
injustice, which lhe was bound by so many ties on
himself, the. Company, and the nation, not only not
to promote, but, by every exertion of authority, influence, and power, to control, to divert, or to resist.
II. That the answer of Fyzoola Khan to the Vizier
did represent, with many expressions of deference,
duty, and allegiance, that the whole force allowed
him was but " five thousand men," and that " these
consisted of two thousand horse and three thousand
foot; which," he adds, "in consequence of our intimate connection, are equally yours and the Company's ": though he does subsequently intimate, that' the three thousand foot are for the management of the concerns of his jaghire, and without them the
collections can never be made in time. "
That, on the communication of the -said answer
to the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, he, the
said Hastings, (who, as the Council now consisted
only of himself and Edward Wheler, Esquire, " united in his own person all the powers of government,")
was not induced to relax from his unjust purpose,
but did proceed with new violence to record, that
" the Nabob Fyzoola Khan had evaded the pe~form
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 289
ance of his part of the treaty between the late Nabob
Sujah ul Dowlah and him, to which the Honorable
Company were guaranties, and upon which he was
lately summoned to furnish the stipulated number of
troops, which he is obliged to furnish on the condition by which he holds the jaghire granted to him. " That, by the vague and indefinite term of evasion,
the said Warren Hastings did introduce a loose and
arbitrary principle of interpreting formal engagements, which ought to be regarded, more especially
by guaranties, in a sense the most literally scrupulous and precise.
That he charged with such evasion a moderate,
humble, and submissive representation on a point
which would have warranted a peremptory refusal
and a positive remonstrance; and that in consequence
of the said imputed evasion he indicated a disposition
to attach such a forfeiture as in justice could only
have followed from a gross breach of treaty, -though
the said Hastings did not then pretend any actual
infringement even of the least among the conditions
to which, in the name of the Company, he, the said
Hlastings, was the executive guaranty.
III. That, however "the number of troops stipulated by treaty may have been understood," at the
period of the original demand, " to be five thousand
horse," yet the said Warren Hastings, at the time
when he recorded the supposed evasion of Fyzoola
Khan's answer to the said demand, could not be unacquainted with the express words of the stipulation, as a letter of the Vizier, inserted in the same Consultation, refers the Governor-General to inclosed copies "of all engagements entered into by the late Vizier
VOL. IX. 19
? ? ? ? 290 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
and by himself [the reigning Vizier] with Fyzzoola
Khan," and that the treaty itself, therefore, was at
the very moment before the said Warren Hastings:
which treaty (as the said Hastings observed with respect to another treaty, in the case of another person)
" most assuredly does not contain a syllable to justify
his conduct; but, by the unexampled latitude which
he assumes in his constructions, he may, if he pleases,
extort this or any other meaning from any part of
it. "
IV. That the Vizier himself appears by no means
to have been persuaded of his own right to five thousand horse under the treaty, -- since, in his correspondence on the subject, he, the Vizier, nowhere mentions the treaty as the ground of his demand,
except where he is recapitulating to the GovernorGeneral, Warren Hastings, the substance of his, the
said Hastings's, own letters; on the contrary, the
Vizier hints his apprehensions lest Fyzoola Khan
should appeal to the treaty against the demand, as
a breach thereof, - in which case, he, the Vizier,
informs the said Hastings of the projected reply.
" Should Fyzoola Khain" (says the Vizier) "mention anything of the tenor of the treaty, the first
breach of it has been committed by him, in keeping up
more men than allowed of by the treaty: I have
accordingly sent a person to settle that point also. In
case he should mention to me anything respecting
the treaty, I will then reproach him with having
kept up too many troops, and will oblige him to
send the five thousand horse ": thereby clearly intimating, that, as a remonstrance against the demand
* Observations on Mr. Bristow's Defence.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 291
as a breach of treaty could only be answered by charging a prior breach of treaty on Fyzoola Khan, so by annulling the whole treaty to reduce the question to
a mere question of force, and thus " oblige Fyzoola
Khan to send the five thousand horse": "for," (continues the Vizier,) "'if, when the Company's affairs,
on which my honor depends, require it, Fyzoola Khan
will not lend his assistance, what USE is there to continue the country to him? "
That the Vizier actually did -make his application
to Fyzoola Kh'an for the five thousand horse, not as
for an aid to which he had a just claim, but as for
something over and above the obligations of the treaty, something "that would give increase to their friendship and satisfaction to the Nabob Governor,"
(meaning the said Hastings,) whose directions he
represents as the motive " of his call for the five thousand horse to be employed," not in his, the Vizier's, "but in the Company's service. "
And that the aforesaid Warren Hastings did, therefore, in recording the answer of Fyzoola Khan as an evasion of treaty, act in notorious contradiction not
only to that which ought to have been the fair construction of the said treaty, but to that which he, the said Hastings, must have known to be the Vizier's
own interpretation of the same, disposed as the Vizier
was " to reproach Fyzoola Khan with breach of treaty," and to " send up persons who should settle points with him. "
V. That the said Warren Hastings, not thinking
himself justified, on the mere plea of an evasion, to
push forward his proceedings to that extremity which
he seems already to have made his scope and object,
? ? ? ? 292 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
and seeking some better color for his unjust and violent purposes, did further move, that commissioners should be sent from the Vizier and the Company to
Fyzoola Khan, to insist on a clause of a treaty which
nowhere appears, being essentially different from the
treaty of Lall-Dang, though not in the part on which
the requisition is founded; and the said Hastings did
then, in a style unusually imperative, proceed as follows.
" Demand immediate delivery of three thousand cavalry; and if he should evade or refuse compliance, that the deputies shall deliver him a formal protest against
him for breach of treaty, and return, making this report to the Vizier, which Mr. Middleton is to transmit
to the board. "
VI. That the said motion of the Governor-General,
Hastings, was ordered accordingly, -- the Council, as
already has been herein related, consisting but of two
members, and the said Hastings consequently " uniting in his own person all the powers of government. " VII. That, when the said Hastings ordered the
said demand for three thousand cavalry, he, the said
Hastings, well knew that a compliance therewith, on
the part of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, was utterly impossible: for he, the said Hastings, had at the very moment before him a letter of Fyzoola Khan, stating,
that he, Fyzoola Khan, had " but two thousand cavalry" altogether; which letter is entered on the records of the Company, in the same Consultation, immediately preceding the Governor-General's minute. That the said Hastings, therefore, knew that the only possible consequence of the aforesaid demand necessarily
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 293
and inevitably must be a protest for a breach of treaty; and the Court of Directors did not hesitate to declare that the said demand "carried the appearance of a determination to create a pretext for depriving
him [Fyzoola KIhan] of his jaghire entirely, or to
leave him at the mercy of the Vizier. "
VIII. That Richard Johnson, Esquire, Assistant
Resident at Oude, was, agreeably to the:afore-mentioned order of Council, deputed commissioner from
Mr. Middleton and the Vizier to Fyzoola Khan; but
that he did early give the most indecent proofs of
glaring partiality, to the prejudice of the said Fyzoola
Khan: for that the very next day (as it seems) after
his arrival, he, the said Johnson, from opinions imbibed in his journey, did state himself to be " unwilling to draw any favorable or flattering inferences relatively to the object of his mission," and did studiously seek to find new breaches of treaty, and, without
any form of regular inquiry whatever, from a single
glance of his eye in passing, did take upon himself to
pronounce "the Rohilla soldiers, in the district of
Rampoor alone, to be not less than twenty thousand,"
and the grant of course to be forfeited. And that
such a gross and palpable display of a predetermination to discover guilt did argue in the said Johnson
a knowledge, a strong presumption, or a belief, that
such representations would be agreeable to the secret
wishes and views of the said Hastings, under whose
orders he, the said Johnson, acted, and to whom all
his reports were to be referred.