The
evidence
of
a witness who could speak most clearly, as probably
he did, and most decisively, upon this subject, is
sunk.
a witness who could speak most clearly, as probably
he did, and most decisively, upon this subject, is
sunk.
Edmund Burke
-- A.
I really cannot rightly presume
to say whether the Nabob did or did not; but I am
apt to believe that he did not. - Q. Have you any
reason, and what, to form a belief about it? - A. I
have. I think, if he supposed the rebellion ever
existed at Fyzabad, he would have been the first
person to take and give the alarm to the British
troops. Q. And no such alarm was taken or given
to the British troops? -A. No, I think not: as I
was always about his person, and in the camp, I
think I certainly must have known it or heard of
it; but I never did. "
We assure your Lordships, you will find upon
your printed Minutes, that Captain Edwards says
he was credibly informed that the Nabob left behind him a part of his guard of horse; and that, so
desirous was he to go into the power of this cruel
lioness, his mother, that he advanced, as he is a
? ? ? ? 110'IMPEACHMIENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
vigorous man, and a bold and spirited rider, leaving
all his guards behind him, and rode before them
into the middle of Fyzabad. There is some more
evidence to the same purpose in answer to the
question put next to that which I read before.
" Q. When you did hear of the rebellion, did not
you understand it to have been alleged that one
object of it was to dethrone the Nabob himself, as
well as to extirpate the English? -- A. I understood
that the intention of the princesses, the Begums, was
to extirpate the English troops out of the country
and out of those dominions, and likewise to depose
her son, and set another son, who seems to have
been a greater favorite of that family, upon the
throne, in the room of the present Nabob; and that
son's name is Saadut Ali. I have only heard this
from report. I have no other knowledge but mere
report. I understood from the report, she was to
extirpate the English, and depose her son who is
now upon the throne. -- Q. Was it after or before
the seizing of the treasures, that you heard a circumstantial account of the supposed object of the rebellion? --A. The report was more general after
the seizing of the treasures; but yet there were reports prevailing in the neighborhood that our troops were sent there in consequence of the charge that
was made by Colonel Hannay and some of his officers
of a rebellion existing then at Fyzabad, or having
existed, I cannot rightly say which. - Q. Was that
report after the order for the troops to march to
Fyzabad? --A. It was more general, it was very
general then when the troops did march there, and
more general after the seizing of the treasures. - Q.
When did the troops first march? - A. It was some
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 111
time in the month of January, I believe, in the year
1782. - Q. While you was with the Nabob in passing from Lucknow to Chunar, and while you was
with him or the army returning from Chunar, did
you then, out of the whole army, regular or irregular, ever hear of any report of the Begums being in rebellion? -A. No, I do not recollect I ever did. Q. (Upon cross-examination. ) Do you recollect at
what time in August, 1781, you left Lucknow to proceed with the Nabob to Chunar? -- A. No, I cannot rightly mention the date: all that I know is this, that
I accompanied the Nabob, Mr. Middleton, and his attendants, all the way from Lucknow to Chunargur. I really cannot recollect; I have no notes, and it is
so distant a time since that I do not recollect the
particulars of the month or the day; but I recollect
perfectly I accompanied the Nabob all the way from
Lucknow to Chunar, and returned again with him
until he struck off on the road for Fyzabad. "
Your Lordships see plainly the whole of this matter. When they had resolved to seize the Begums' treasures, they propagated this report just in proportion to their acts. As they proceeded, the report grew hotter and hotter. This man tells you when it
was that the propagation of this report first began,
when it grew hot, and when it was in its greatest
heat. He tells you that not one native of credit in
the country believed it, - that he did not think the
Nabob himself believed it; and he gives a reason
that speaks for itself, namely, that he, the Nabob,
would have been the first man to give the alarm, if
he believed in a rebellion, as he was to be the object
of it. He says the English were the principal spreaders of the report. It was, in fact, a wicked report,
? ? ? ? 112 IMPEACtIIMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
propagated by Mr. Middleton and the English agents
for the purpose of justifying their iniquitous spoliation of the Begums.
This is the mainner in which the matter stands
upon the ground of rebellion, with the exception of
Major Gilpin's and Hyder Beg Khan's testimony.
Tlhis last man we have proved to have been kept in
his office by Mr. Hastings's influence, and to have
been entirely under his government. When this dependant comes to give his attestation, he gives a long
account of all the proceedings of Cheyt Sing's rebellion, with which the rebellion charged on the Begums
was supposed to be coincident; and he ends it very
remarkably, - that he tells the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. But it is also remarkable,
that even this Hyder Beg Khan never mentions by
name the rebellion of the Begums, nor says that he
ever heard a word about it: a strong proof that he
did not dare, in the face of his country, to give countenance to such a falsehood.
Major Gilpin's evidence leaves'not even the shadow
of a pretence for this charge. He had the Begums
and their eunuchs under his custody for a full year;
he was strictly ordered to watch them and to guard
them; and during all that time he lived at Fyzabad.
He was the man who commanded the troops, who
had all the witnesses in his power, who had daily
access to all parties at Fyzabad, and who, moreover,
was a person attached to Mr. Hastings in the strongest manner. Your Lordships will now be pleased to
hear read to you this part of Major Gilpin's evidence.
" Q. Had you any opportunity of knowing the character of the Begums, and whether they were disaffected to our government? - A. I had a very good op
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH' DAY. 113
portunity of knowing, from the circumstance of my
having commanded so long there. The elder Begum,
it was generally understood, (and I have reason to
believe,) was disaffected to our government; and my
sentiments of her conduct stand recorded in my correspondence to the court of Lucknow to that effect;
but with respect to the Bhow Begum, I acquit her
entirely of any disaffection to our government, so far
as comes to my knowledge: appearances were for
some time against her; but, on cool, deliberate inquiry, I found there was no ground for supposing
her guilty of any rebellious principles, at the time of
Cheyt Sing's rebellion. - Q. Whether that, according to your belief, is not your present opinion? A. I think I have answered that very fully, that it was upon those very principles that I did form an
opinion of her innocence; how far they are justifiable or right I will not take upon me to say upon
oath; there was no one circumstance that came to
my knowledge, during my residence at Fyzabad or
my residence in India, that I would wish to withhold
from your Lordships. -- Q. You state here,'upon
cool; deliberate inquiry': what was that cool, deliberate inquiry? - A. That cool, deliberate inquiry was
the conversations I had with the ministers and the
people of Fyzabad, and the letters from herself expressing her innocence; and it appeared to me from
those letters that she really was our friend and ally. "
The same witness goes on afterwards to say:. "Q. I understood you to say, that originally the
report prevailed with respect to both the Begums, but
that you was induced to alter that opinion with respect to the younger Begum, in consequence of Mr.
Gordon's letters, and the intelligence of some of her
VOL. XII 8
? ? ? ? 114 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ministers and other persons: were not those other
persons in the interest of the younger Begum? A. In general the town of Fyzabad were in her interest. - Q. In what sense do you mean generally in her interest? Were the persons you conversed
with merely those who were in her service and
household, or the inhabitants of Fyzabad in general?
- A. Both: I held conversations with both her own
body-servants and the inhabitants of the city. "
A little lower down, in the same page: --
" Q. What do you mean by the word rebellion, as
applied to the Begums? In what sense do you use it?
- A. In raising troops, and in other acts of rebellion,
in the common acceptation of the word. - Q. Against
whom? --A. Against the Nabob's government and
the British government jointly: but I beg to know the
particular time and circumstance the question alludes
to. - Q. I understand you to have said you understood the elder Begum was in a constant state of
rebellion. In what sense do you use the word rebellion? Did you say the elder Begum was in a constant
state of rebellion? - A. I always understood her to
be disaffected to the English government: it might not
be a proper expression of mine, the word rebellion.
- Q. Do you know of any act by the elder Begum
against the Vizier? - A. I cannot state any. - Q.
Do you know of any act which you call rebellion,
committed by the elder Begum against the Company'?
- A. I do not know of any particular circumstance,
only it was generally supposed that she was disaffected to the Company. - Q. What acts of disaffection or
hostility towards the English do you allude to, when
you speak of the conversation of the world at the
time? -- A. I have answered that question as fully
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 115
as I can, --that it was nothing but conversation,
that I knew of no particular act or deed myself. "
This man, then, declares, as your Lordships have
heard, that, upon cool, deliberate inquiry made at
Fyzabad from all the inhabitants, he did not believe
in the existence of any rebellion;- that as to the
Bhow Begum, the grandmother, who was a person
that could only be charged with it in a secondary
degree, and as conspiring with the other, he says he
knows no facts against her, except that at the battle
of Buxar, in the year 1764, she had used some odd
expressions concerning the English, who were then
at war with her son Sujah Dowlah. This was long
before we had any empire or pretence to empire in
that part of India: therefore the expression of a rebellion, which he had used with regard to her, was, he acknowledged, improper, and that he only meant he
had formed some opinion of her disaffection to the
English.
As to the Begum, he positively acquits her of any
rebellion. If he, therefore, did not know it, who was
an active officer in the very centre of the alleged rebellion, and who was in possession of all the persons from whom information was to be got, who had the
eunuchs in prison, and might have charged them
with this rebellion, and might have examined and
cross-examined them at his pleasure, -- if this man
knew nothing about it, your Lordships will judge of
the falsehood of this wicked rumor, spread about
from hand to hand, and which was circulated by persons who at the same time have declared that they never heard of it before Sir Elijah Impey went up
into the country, the messenger of Mr. Hastings's
orders to seize the treasures of the Begums, and
? ? ? ? 116 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
commissioned to procure evidence in justification of
that violence and robbery.
I now go to another part of this evidence. There
is a person they call Hoolas Roy, -- a man in the
employment of the Resident, Mr. Middleton. The
gentlemen who are counsel for the prisoner have
exclaimed, "Oh! he was nothing but a news-writer.
What! do you take any notice of him? " Your
Lordships would imagine that the man whom they
treat in this manner, and whose negative evidence
they think fit to despise, was no better than the
writers of those scandalous paragraphs which are
published in our daily papers, to misrepresent the
proceedings of this court to the public. But who in
fact is this Hoolas Roy, whom they represent, for the
convenience of the day, to be nothing but a newswriter? I will read to your Lordships a letter from
Major Naylor to Colonel Jaques, commanding the
second battalion, twentieth regiment.
" SIR,- oolas Roy, the person appointed by the
Nabob for transacting the business for which the
troops are required here, will hold constant communication and intercourse with you; and as he is instructed and acquainted with the best method to
accomplish this business, Mr. Middleton requests implicit attention to be paid to what he may from time to time represent respecting the prisoners or the
business on which he is employed; in short, as he is
the person nominated by the Nabob, he wishes Hoolas
Roy to be considered in the same light as if he himself was present. "
Mr. Middleton, in a letter to Lieutenant Francis
Rutledge, writes thus of him:
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 117
"SIR, -When this note is delivered to you by
Hoolas Roy, I have to desire that you order the two
prisoners to be put in irons, keeping them fromn all
food, &c. , agreeable to my instructions of yesterday. "
You will first see in how confidential a manner
Hoolas Roy was employed, and in what light he was
held: that he was employed to carry some instructions which do not indeed appear, but were accompanied by an order from Mr. Middleton. "When
these instructions shall come to you, to put these
prisoners in irons and keep them without food, &c. "
The Begums say, without food and water. Et cetera
are words of large import; but he was "to keep
them without food, &c. , agreeable to my instructions
of yesterday. " This was a pretty general warrant
for sufferings. This HEoolas Roy, this mere newswriter, was not only intrusted with this warrant, but
Mr. Middleton declares him to be a person who was
to be received there, and to represent the Nabob, and
very justly too; for he, Mr. Middleton, was undoubtedly the real nabob of the country. The man, therefore, whom they talk of in this contemptuous manner in order to make slight of an observation we made,
and which I shall make again, and whom they affect
to consider as a mere paragraph-monger in some
scandalous newspaper, was a man vested by Mr.
Middleton with authority equal to that of the Nabob
himself.
Mr. Hastings not only thought him of consequence
enough to be a witness to the severities used on the
ministers of the Begums, but he considered that he
would afterwards be a fit witness to the rebellion.
I pray your Lordships to mark this: he sent for this
? ? ? ? 118 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Hoolas Roy, (who is now nothing but a mere paragraph-monger,) -he sent for him from Fyzabad to
Benares, -a pretty long journey; and at last caused
him to be examined before Sir Elijah Impey. He
has, however, sunk his evidence: a suppression which
is strongly in favor of the Begums, and equally
strong against their accuser. Here we have a man
who was intrusted with all their orders, - who represented the English government, - who represented the Nabob's government: this man is sent for by Mr. Hastings; he gives his deposition before
Sir Elijah Impey; and the deposition so given is not
to be found either upon the Company's record, in
Sir Elijah Impey's trunk, in Jonathan Scott's trunk,
nor in any other place whatever.
The evidence of
a witness who could speak most clearly, as probably
he did, and most decisively, upon this subject, is
sunk. They suppress, and dare not produce, the affidavit of the man who was at the bottom of every
secret of both governments. They had the folly to
let you know, obliquely, that he had been sent for
by Mr. Hastings, but they conceal the information
obtained from him: a silence more damning than
any positive evidence could be. You have here a
proof of their practice of producing such evidence
only as they thought most favorable to their wicked
purposes, in the destruction of this great and ancient
family.
But all the English, they say, believed in the existence of this rebellion. This we deny. Mr. Purling, who was Resident the year before its pretended explosion, has told you that he never knew of anything like a plot carrying on by these women. We
were almost ashamed to put the question to him.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 119
Did Mr. Bristow, the next Resident, know or believe
in this plot? He seems, indeed, to have been induced to give some oblique hints to Mr. Hastings
of improper conduct on the part of the Begums, but
without stating what it was. In a letter to Mr.
Hastings, he appears to endeavor to soften the cruel
temper of this inflexible man by going a little way
with him, by admitting that he thought they had behaved improperly. When Mr. Wombwell, another Resident, is asked whether any Englishman doubted
of it, he says Mr. Bristow doubted of it. No one,
indeed, who reads these papers, can avoid seeing
that Mr. Bristow did not believe one word of it, - no
more, in fact, than did Mr. Hastings, or anybody else.
Blt, my Lords, let us go from these inferior agents
and servants of the Company to their higher officers.
Did Mr. Stables believe it? This gentleman was
Mr. Hastings's colleague in the Council, -- a man
of as much honor, I really believe, as ever went to
India,- a faithful old servant of the Company, and
very worthy of credit. I believe there is not a spot
upon him during all his long service under the Company: if any, it is his being a little too obsequious, sometimes, to Mr. Hastings. Did he believe it?
No, he did not: and yet he was one of the persons
authorized to investigate it coolly, and most able to
do so.
Upon the whole, then, the persons who best knew
the state of the country did not believe it; the Nabob
did not believe it; the Begums were never charged
with it; no ground of suspicion is suggested, except loose rumors and the story of two nudjeeves.
Under these circumstances the treasures of these ancient ladies were seized, their property confiscated,
? ? ? ? 120 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
and the Nabob dragged most reluctantly to this act.
Yes, my Lords, this poor, miserable victim was forced
to violate all the laws of Nature, all decency, all
property, to rob his own mother, for the benefit
of Mr. Hastings. All this he was forced to do: he
was made the reluctant instrument of punishing his
mother and grandmother for a plot of which even
their accusers do not pretend to say that the parties
accused had ever received any intimation.
My Lords, in forming your judgment upon this
nefarious proceeding, your Lordships will not fail to
advert to the fundamental principles, the acknowledged maxims and established rules, of all judgment and justice,- that conviction ought to precede execution, that trial ought to precede conviction, and that a prosecutor's information and evidence ought
to be the preliminary step and substance of the trial.
Here everything was reversed: Sir Elijah Impey
goes up with the order for execution; the party
accused is neither arraigned nor tried; this same
Sir Elijah then proceeds to seek for witnesses and
to take affidavits; and in the mean time neither the
Nabob, the ostensible prosecutor, nor his mother and
grandmother, the parties accused, knew one word of
the matter.
But possibly some peculiarity in the circumstances
of the case rendered such a proceeding necessary,
and may justify it. No such peculiarity has been
proved or even alleged; nay, it is in the highest
degree improbable that it could have existed. Mr.
Hastings had another opportunity of doing himself
justice. When an account of this business was
transmitted to the Court of Directors, they ordered
him to inquire into it: and your Lordships will see
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 121
what he did in consequence of this order. Your
Lordships will then judge of the extreme audacity
of the defence which he has made of this act at your
bar, after having refused to institute any inquiry into
it, although he had the positive order of the Court
of Directors, and was in the place where that inquiry
could be made effectually, and in the place where
the unfortunate women could have an opportunity
of clearing themselves.
I will first read to your Lordships an extract from
the letter of the Court of Directors to the board at
Calcutta, dated the 14th of February, 1783.
"4. By the second article of the treaty [of Chunar] the Nabob is permitted to resume such jaghires
as he shall think proper, with a reserve, that all such
jaghiredars, for the amount of whose jaghires the
Company are guaranties, shall, in case of a resumption of their lands, be paid the amount of the net collections through the Resident.
" 5. We do not see how the Governor-General
could consent to the resumption of such lands as
the Company had engaged should remain in the
hands of those who possessed them previous to the
execution of the late treaty, without stronger proofs
of the Begums' defection than have been laid before
us; neither can we allow it to be good policy to reduce the several jaghiredars, and thus uniting the territory, and the troops maintained for the protection of that territory, under one head, who, by that means, at some future period, may become a very
powerful enemy to the Company.
"6. With respect to the resumption of the jaghires possessed by the Begums in particular, and the
? ? ? ? 122 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
subsequent seizure of the treasure deposited with the
Vizier's mother, which the Governor-General, in his
letter to the board, 23d January, 1782, has declared
he strenuously encouraged and supported, we hope
and trust, for the honor of the British nation, that the
measure appeared to be fully justified in the eyes of
all Hindostan. The Governor-General has informed
us that it can be well attested, that the Begums principally excited and supported the late commotions,
and that they carried their inveteracy to the English
nation so far as to aim at our utter extirpation.
" 7. It must have been publicly known that in
1775 the Resident at the Vizier's court not only
obtained from the Begum, widow of the late Sujah
Dowlah, on the Nabob's account, thirty lacs of rupees,
half of which was to be paid to the Company, but
also the forbearance of twenty-six lacs, for the repayment of which she had security in land, on the Nabob's agreeing to renounce all further claims upon her, and that to this agreement the Company were
guaranties.
"8. We find that on the 21st December, 1775,
the Begum complained of a breach of engagements
on the part of the Nabob, soliciting your protection
for herself, her mother, and for all the women belonging to the seraglio of the late Nabob, from the distresses to which they were reduced; in consequence whereof it was agreed in consultation, 3d January,
1776, to remonstrate with the Vizier, - the Governor-General remarking, that, as the representative of
our government has become an agent in this business, and has pledged the honor and faith of the
Company for the punctual observance of the conditions under which the treaty was concluded, you had
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 123
a right to interfere, and justice demanded it, if it
should appear that those engagements have been violated. And the board at the same time resolved,
that, as soon as the Begum's engagements with the
Nabob, to which Mr. Bristow is a party, shall be fulfilled on her part, this government will think themselves bound to protect her against any further demand or molestation. " 9. If, therefore, the disaffection of the Begums
was not a matter of public notoriety, we cannot but be
alarmed for the effects which these subsequent transactions must have had on the minds of the natives of
India. The only consolation we feel upon this occasion is, that the amount of those jaghires for which
the Company were guaranties is to be paid through
our Resident at the court of the Vizier; and it very
materially concerns the credit of your government on
no account to suffer such payments to be evaded.
"10. If it shall hereafter be found that the Be. .
gums did not take that hostile part against the Company which has been represented, as well in the Governor-General's Narrative as in several documents
therein referred to, -and as it nowhere appears,
from the papers at present in our possession, that
they excited any commotion previous to the imprisonment of Rajah Cheyt Sing, but only armed themselves in consequence of that transaction, - and as it
is probable that such a conduct proceeded entirely
from motives of self-defence, under an apprehension
that they themselves might likewise be laid under
unwarrantable contributions, -- we direct that you
use your influence with the Vizier that their jaghires
may be restored to them; but if they should be under apprehensions respecting the future conduct of
? ? ? ? 124 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the Vizier, and wish our further protection, it is our
pleasure that you afford those ladies an asylum within the Company's territories, and there be paid the
amount of the net collections of their jaghires, agreeably to the second article of the late treaty, through
the medium of our Resident, as may be ascertained
upon an average estimate of some years back. "
You see, my Lords, the Directors had received
every one of his false impressions. They had conceived an idea, that, after the rebellion of Cheyt
Sing, (but not before, upon his own showing,) the
Begums had shown a disposition to arm. They here
assume a false fact, which Mr. Hastings stated in
his representation of the business to them. They
assume a variety of other false facts: they assume
that the amount of the jaghires of the Begums were
to be paid them in regular pensions; whereas they
were totally confiscated, without any compensation at
all. And yet, upon Mr. Hastings's own showing,
they found the transaction to be so dishonorable to
the British government, that they desire him to make
inquiry into it, and give redress accordingly.
Here, then, is another order of the Company, another call upon Mr. Hastings to examine to the bottom of this affair. The Directors, after giving him credit for that enormous mass of falsehoods which
we have proved him to have stated in his Narrative,
found themselves so utterly dissatisfied, that they
gave this conditional order to restore the Begums to
their jaghires. Your Lordships will find it in evidence upon your minutes, that he contumaciously
disobeyed this order, -that he would not consent
to the propositions of the Council for inquiring
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 125
into the conduct of these injured women, but stifled
every attempt that was made by others to do them
justice. And yet he here has the effrontery to propose that your Lordships should inquire into the business at your bar, --that you should investigate
a matter here which he refused to inquire into on
the spot, though expressly ordered by his masters so
to do.
I will now read to your Lordships a short extract
from his own narrative of his own proceedings. It
begins with reciting part of a note entered by Mr.
Macpherson in the Consultations of the Council, at
the time when the orders of the Court of Directors
which I have just alluded to were taken into consideration.
"' What the Court of Directors seem to have most
at heart are, first, that the engagement of the second
article of the Benares treaty should be faithfully fulfilled, - and, secondly, to guard against the future misconduct of the Vizier, if he should be disposed
to oppress the Begums; that we should therefore
ascertain whether the amount of the jaghires of the
Begums is regularly paid to them through the Company's Resident, and give them notice that no future demands shall be made upon them. This the Governor-General might, I think, do in a letter that
would make the Begums sensible of their past misconduct, yet inform them of the lenity and gracious intentions of the Company, in ordering them an asylum in Bengal, in case of future distress. "
In consequence of the foregoing opinion from Mr.
Macpherson, the following minute was delivered by
the Governor-General.
"I should gladly acquiesce in the motion made
? ? ? ? 126 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
by Mr. Macpherson, if I thought it possible to frame
a letter to the Begums in any terms which should
at the same time convey the intimation proposed by
it and not defeat the purpose of it, or be productive
of evils greater than any which exist in consequence
of the proceedings which have already taken place,
and which time has almost obliterated. The orders
of the Court of Directors are conditional; they require nothing, but in the event of discoveries made subsequent to the advices which were before you on
the 14th February last, in alleviation of the former
conduct of the Begums. Nothing has since appeared in relation to them, but their refusal, or
rather that of one, to fulfil her engagements for the
payment of the remainder of the sum exacted from
her by the Nabob Vizier in the beginning of last
year. Whatever obedience may be due to the clear
ascertained spirit of the orders of the Court of
Directors, this obligation cannot extend to points
to which neither the letter nor evident spirit of
their orders apply. If I am rightly informed, the
Nabob Vizier and the Begums are on terms of mutual good-will. It would ill become this government
to interpose its influence by any act which might
tend to revive their animosities: and a very slight
occasion would be sufficient to effect it. It will be
to little purpose to tell them that their conduct has,
in our estimation of it, been very wrong, and at the
same time to announce to them the orders of our
superiors, which more than indicate the reverse.
They will instantly take fire on such a declaration,
proclaim the judgment of the Company in their favor,
demand a reparation of the acts which they will construe wrongs with such a sentence warranting that
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 127
construction, --and either accept the invitation, to
the proclaimed scandal of the Vizier, which will not
add to the cre~dit of our government, or remain in
his dominions, but not under his authority, to add
to his vexations and the disorders of the country, by
continual intrigues and seditions. Enough already
exists to affect his peace, and the quiet of his people;
if we cannot heal, let us not inflame the wounds
which have been inflicted.
"If the Begums think themselves aggrieved to
such a degree as to justify them in an appeal to a
foreign jurisdiction, - to appeal to it against a man
standing in the relation of son and grandson to them,
- to appeal to the justice of those who have been the
abettors and instruments of their imputed wrongs, --
let us at least permit them to be the judges of their
own feelings, and prefer their complaints before we
offer to redress them: they will not need to be
prompted. I hope I shall not depart from the simplicity of official language, in saying, that the majesty of justice ought to be approached with solicitation, not
descend to provoke or invite it, much less to debase
itself by the suggestion of wrongs and the promise of
redress, with the denunciation of punishment before
trial, and even before accusation. "
My Lords, if, since the beginning of the world,
such a paper as this was ever before written by a
person standing in thell relation of a servant to his
master, I shall allow that every word we have said to
your Lordships upon this occasion to mark his guilt
ought to be expunged from your minutes and from
our charges.
Before I proceed to make any observations upon
this act of open rebellion against his superiors, I
? ? ? ? 128 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
must beg your Lordships to remark the cruelty of
purpose, the hostile feeling, towards these injured
women, which were displayed in this daring defiance. Your Lordships will find that he never is a rebel to one party without being a tyrant to some
others; that rebel and tyrant are correlative terms,
when applied to him, and that they constantly go
together.
It is suggested by the Directors, that the Nabob is
the persecutor, the oppressor, and that Mr. Hastings
is the person who is to redress the wrong. But here
they have mistaken the matter totally. For we have
proved to your Lordships that Mr. Hastings was the
principal in the persecution, and that the Nabob was
only an instrument. "If I am rightly informed,"
he says, " the Nabob and the Begums are on terms
of mutual good-will. It would ill become this government to interpose its influence by any act which might tend to revive their animosities: and a very
slight occasion would be sufficient to effect it. " What
animosities had they towards each other? None that
we know of. Mr. Hastings gets the Nabob to rob
his mother; and then he supposes, contrary to truth,
contrary to fact, contrary to everything your Lordships have heard, that the Nabob would fall into a fury, if his mother was to obtain any redress, - and
that, if the least inquiry into this business was made,
it would create a flame in the Nabob's mind, on account of the active, energetic, spirited part he had taken in these transactions. " Therefore," says he,
"oh, for God's sake, soothe the matter! It is a
green wound; don't uncover it; do nothing to irritate. It will be to little purpose to tell them that
their conduct has in our estimation of it been very
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 129
wrong, and at the same time announce to them the
orders of our superiors, which more than indicate
the reverse. " Now, my Lords, to what does all this
amount? "First," says he, "I will not do them
justice, -- I will not enter upon an inquiry into their
wrongs. " Why? "Because they charge us with
having inflicted them. " Then, surely, for that reason, you ought to commence an inquiry. " No," says
he, " that would be telling them that our superiors
suspect we are in the wrong. " But when his superiors more than indicated suspicions, was he not bound
tenfold to make that inquiry, for his honor and for
their satisfaction, which they direct him to make?
No, he will not do it, "because," says he, " the Begums would either accept the offer of an asylum in
the Company's territories, to the proclaimed scandal
of the Vizier, which would not add to the credit of
our government, or they would remain in his dominions, but not under his authority, to add to his vexations, and the disorders of the country, by continual intrigues and seditions. " You see, my Lords, this man is constantly thrusting this peaceable Nabob before him, goading and
pushing him on, as if with a bayonet behind, to the
commission of everything that is base and dishonorable. You have him here declaring that he will not
satisfy the Directors, his masters, in their inquiries
about those acts, for fear of the Nabob's taking umbrage, and getting into a flame with his mother, --
and for fear the mother, supported by the opinion
of the Directors, should be induced to resent her
wrongs. What, I say, does all this amount to? It
amounts to this: -" The Begums accuse me of doing them injustice; the Directors indicate a suspicion
VOL. XII. 9
? ? ? ? 130 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
that they have been injured; therefore I will not
inquire into the matter. " Why? "Because it may
raise disturbances. " But what disturbance could it
raise? The mother is disarmed, and could not hurt
the Nabob. All her landed estates he knew were
confiscated; he knew all her money was in his own
possession; he knew she had not the means, if she
had been disposed, to create intrigues and cabals; --
what disturbance, then, could be created by his sending a letter to know what she had to say upon the subject of her wrongs?
"If," says he, "the Begums think themselves aggrieved. " Observe, my Lords, that the institution of
an inquiry is no measure of the Begums; it is an
order of the Court of Directors, made by them upon his own representation of his own case, and upon nothing else. The Begums did not dare to murmur;
they did not dare to ask for redress.
to say whether the Nabob did or did not; but I am
apt to believe that he did not. - Q. Have you any
reason, and what, to form a belief about it? - A. I
have. I think, if he supposed the rebellion ever
existed at Fyzabad, he would have been the first
person to take and give the alarm to the British
troops. Q. And no such alarm was taken or given
to the British troops? -A. No, I think not: as I
was always about his person, and in the camp, I
think I certainly must have known it or heard of
it; but I never did. "
We assure your Lordships, you will find upon
your printed Minutes, that Captain Edwards says
he was credibly informed that the Nabob left behind him a part of his guard of horse; and that, so
desirous was he to go into the power of this cruel
lioness, his mother, that he advanced, as he is a
? ? ? ? 110'IMPEACHMIENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
vigorous man, and a bold and spirited rider, leaving
all his guards behind him, and rode before them
into the middle of Fyzabad. There is some more
evidence to the same purpose in answer to the
question put next to that which I read before.
" Q. When you did hear of the rebellion, did not
you understand it to have been alleged that one
object of it was to dethrone the Nabob himself, as
well as to extirpate the English? -- A. I understood
that the intention of the princesses, the Begums, was
to extirpate the English troops out of the country
and out of those dominions, and likewise to depose
her son, and set another son, who seems to have
been a greater favorite of that family, upon the
throne, in the room of the present Nabob; and that
son's name is Saadut Ali. I have only heard this
from report. I have no other knowledge but mere
report. I understood from the report, she was to
extirpate the English, and depose her son who is
now upon the throne. -- Q. Was it after or before
the seizing of the treasures, that you heard a circumstantial account of the supposed object of the rebellion? --A. The report was more general after
the seizing of the treasures; but yet there were reports prevailing in the neighborhood that our troops were sent there in consequence of the charge that
was made by Colonel Hannay and some of his officers
of a rebellion existing then at Fyzabad, or having
existed, I cannot rightly say which. - Q. Was that
report after the order for the troops to march to
Fyzabad? --A. It was more general, it was very
general then when the troops did march there, and
more general after the seizing of the treasures. - Q.
When did the troops first march? - A. It was some
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 111
time in the month of January, I believe, in the year
1782. - Q. While you was with the Nabob in passing from Lucknow to Chunar, and while you was
with him or the army returning from Chunar, did
you then, out of the whole army, regular or irregular, ever hear of any report of the Begums being in rebellion? -A. No, I do not recollect I ever did. Q. (Upon cross-examination. ) Do you recollect at
what time in August, 1781, you left Lucknow to proceed with the Nabob to Chunar? -- A. No, I cannot rightly mention the date: all that I know is this, that
I accompanied the Nabob, Mr. Middleton, and his attendants, all the way from Lucknow to Chunargur. I really cannot recollect; I have no notes, and it is
so distant a time since that I do not recollect the
particulars of the month or the day; but I recollect
perfectly I accompanied the Nabob all the way from
Lucknow to Chunar, and returned again with him
until he struck off on the road for Fyzabad. "
Your Lordships see plainly the whole of this matter. When they had resolved to seize the Begums' treasures, they propagated this report just in proportion to their acts. As they proceeded, the report grew hotter and hotter. This man tells you when it
was that the propagation of this report first began,
when it grew hot, and when it was in its greatest
heat. He tells you that not one native of credit in
the country believed it, - that he did not think the
Nabob himself believed it; and he gives a reason
that speaks for itself, namely, that he, the Nabob,
would have been the first man to give the alarm, if
he believed in a rebellion, as he was to be the object
of it. He says the English were the principal spreaders of the report. It was, in fact, a wicked report,
? ? ? ? 112 IMPEACtIIMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
propagated by Mr. Middleton and the English agents
for the purpose of justifying their iniquitous spoliation of the Begums.
This is the mainner in which the matter stands
upon the ground of rebellion, with the exception of
Major Gilpin's and Hyder Beg Khan's testimony.
Tlhis last man we have proved to have been kept in
his office by Mr. Hastings's influence, and to have
been entirely under his government. When this dependant comes to give his attestation, he gives a long
account of all the proceedings of Cheyt Sing's rebellion, with which the rebellion charged on the Begums
was supposed to be coincident; and he ends it very
remarkably, - that he tells the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. But it is also remarkable,
that even this Hyder Beg Khan never mentions by
name the rebellion of the Begums, nor says that he
ever heard a word about it: a strong proof that he
did not dare, in the face of his country, to give countenance to such a falsehood.
Major Gilpin's evidence leaves'not even the shadow
of a pretence for this charge. He had the Begums
and their eunuchs under his custody for a full year;
he was strictly ordered to watch them and to guard
them; and during all that time he lived at Fyzabad.
He was the man who commanded the troops, who
had all the witnesses in his power, who had daily
access to all parties at Fyzabad, and who, moreover,
was a person attached to Mr. Hastings in the strongest manner. Your Lordships will now be pleased to
hear read to you this part of Major Gilpin's evidence.
" Q. Had you any opportunity of knowing the character of the Begums, and whether they were disaffected to our government? - A. I had a very good op
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH' DAY. 113
portunity of knowing, from the circumstance of my
having commanded so long there. The elder Begum,
it was generally understood, (and I have reason to
believe,) was disaffected to our government; and my
sentiments of her conduct stand recorded in my correspondence to the court of Lucknow to that effect;
but with respect to the Bhow Begum, I acquit her
entirely of any disaffection to our government, so far
as comes to my knowledge: appearances were for
some time against her; but, on cool, deliberate inquiry, I found there was no ground for supposing
her guilty of any rebellious principles, at the time of
Cheyt Sing's rebellion. - Q. Whether that, according to your belief, is not your present opinion? A. I think I have answered that very fully, that it was upon those very principles that I did form an
opinion of her innocence; how far they are justifiable or right I will not take upon me to say upon
oath; there was no one circumstance that came to
my knowledge, during my residence at Fyzabad or
my residence in India, that I would wish to withhold
from your Lordships. -- Q. You state here,'upon
cool; deliberate inquiry': what was that cool, deliberate inquiry? - A. That cool, deliberate inquiry was
the conversations I had with the ministers and the
people of Fyzabad, and the letters from herself expressing her innocence; and it appeared to me from
those letters that she really was our friend and ally. "
The same witness goes on afterwards to say:. "Q. I understood you to say, that originally the
report prevailed with respect to both the Begums, but
that you was induced to alter that opinion with respect to the younger Begum, in consequence of Mr.
Gordon's letters, and the intelligence of some of her
VOL. XII 8
? ? ? ? 114 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ministers and other persons: were not those other
persons in the interest of the younger Begum? A. In general the town of Fyzabad were in her interest. - Q. In what sense do you mean generally in her interest? Were the persons you conversed
with merely those who were in her service and
household, or the inhabitants of Fyzabad in general?
- A. Both: I held conversations with both her own
body-servants and the inhabitants of the city. "
A little lower down, in the same page: --
" Q. What do you mean by the word rebellion, as
applied to the Begums? In what sense do you use it?
- A. In raising troops, and in other acts of rebellion,
in the common acceptation of the word. - Q. Against
whom? --A. Against the Nabob's government and
the British government jointly: but I beg to know the
particular time and circumstance the question alludes
to. - Q. I understand you to have said you understood the elder Begum was in a constant state of
rebellion. In what sense do you use the word rebellion? Did you say the elder Begum was in a constant
state of rebellion? - A. I always understood her to
be disaffected to the English government: it might not
be a proper expression of mine, the word rebellion.
- Q. Do you know of any act by the elder Begum
against the Vizier? - A. I cannot state any. - Q.
Do you know of any act which you call rebellion,
committed by the elder Begum against the Company'?
- A. I do not know of any particular circumstance,
only it was generally supposed that she was disaffected to the Company. - Q. What acts of disaffection or
hostility towards the English do you allude to, when
you speak of the conversation of the world at the
time? -- A. I have answered that question as fully
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 115
as I can, --that it was nothing but conversation,
that I knew of no particular act or deed myself. "
This man, then, declares, as your Lordships have
heard, that, upon cool, deliberate inquiry made at
Fyzabad from all the inhabitants, he did not believe
in the existence of any rebellion;- that as to the
Bhow Begum, the grandmother, who was a person
that could only be charged with it in a secondary
degree, and as conspiring with the other, he says he
knows no facts against her, except that at the battle
of Buxar, in the year 1764, she had used some odd
expressions concerning the English, who were then
at war with her son Sujah Dowlah. This was long
before we had any empire or pretence to empire in
that part of India: therefore the expression of a rebellion, which he had used with regard to her, was, he acknowledged, improper, and that he only meant he
had formed some opinion of her disaffection to the
English.
As to the Begum, he positively acquits her of any
rebellion. If he, therefore, did not know it, who was
an active officer in the very centre of the alleged rebellion, and who was in possession of all the persons from whom information was to be got, who had the
eunuchs in prison, and might have charged them
with this rebellion, and might have examined and
cross-examined them at his pleasure, -- if this man
knew nothing about it, your Lordships will judge of
the falsehood of this wicked rumor, spread about
from hand to hand, and which was circulated by persons who at the same time have declared that they never heard of it before Sir Elijah Impey went up
into the country, the messenger of Mr. Hastings's
orders to seize the treasures of the Begums, and
? ? ? ? 116 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
commissioned to procure evidence in justification of
that violence and robbery.
I now go to another part of this evidence. There
is a person they call Hoolas Roy, -- a man in the
employment of the Resident, Mr. Middleton. The
gentlemen who are counsel for the prisoner have
exclaimed, "Oh! he was nothing but a news-writer.
What! do you take any notice of him? " Your
Lordships would imagine that the man whom they
treat in this manner, and whose negative evidence
they think fit to despise, was no better than the
writers of those scandalous paragraphs which are
published in our daily papers, to misrepresent the
proceedings of this court to the public. But who in
fact is this Hoolas Roy, whom they represent, for the
convenience of the day, to be nothing but a newswriter? I will read to your Lordships a letter from
Major Naylor to Colonel Jaques, commanding the
second battalion, twentieth regiment.
" SIR,- oolas Roy, the person appointed by the
Nabob for transacting the business for which the
troops are required here, will hold constant communication and intercourse with you; and as he is instructed and acquainted with the best method to
accomplish this business, Mr. Middleton requests implicit attention to be paid to what he may from time to time represent respecting the prisoners or the
business on which he is employed; in short, as he is
the person nominated by the Nabob, he wishes Hoolas
Roy to be considered in the same light as if he himself was present. "
Mr. Middleton, in a letter to Lieutenant Francis
Rutledge, writes thus of him:
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 117
"SIR, -When this note is delivered to you by
Hoolas Roy, I have to desire that you order the two
prisoners to be put in irons, keeping them fromn all
food, &c. , agreeable to my instructions of yesterday. "
You will first see in how confidential a manner
Hoolas Roy was employed, and in what light he was
held: that he was employed to carry some instructions which do not indeed appear, but were accompanied by an order from Mr. Middleton. "When
these instructions shall come to you, to put these
prisoners in irons and keep them without food, &c. "
The Begums say, without food and water. Et cetera
are words of large import; but he was "to keep
them without food, &c. , agreeable to my instructions
of yesterday. " This was a pretty general warrant
for sufferings. This HEoolas Roy, this mere newswriter, was not only intrusted with this warrant, but
Mr. Middleton declares him to be a person who was
to be received there, and to represent the Nabob, and
very justly too; for he, Mr. Middleton, was undoubtedly the real nabob of the country. The man, therefore, whom they talk of in this contemptuous manner in order to make slight of an observation we made,
and which I shall make again, and whom they affect
to consider as a mere paragraph-monger in some
scandalous newspaper, was a man vested by Mr.
Middleton with authority equal to that of the Nabob
himself.
Mr. Hastings not only thought him of consequence
enough to be a witness to the severities used on the
ministers of the Begums, but he considered that he
would afterwards be a fit witness to the rebellion.
I pray your Lordships to mark this: he sent for this
? ? ? ? 118 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Hoolas Roy, (who is now nothing but a mere paragraph-monger,) -he sent for him from Fyzabad to
Benares, -a pretty long journey; and at last caused
him to be examined before Sir Elijah Impey. He
has, however, sunk his evidence: a suppression which
is strongly in favor of the Begums, and equally
strong against their accuser. Here we have a man
who was intrusted with all their orders, - who represented the English government, - who represented the Nabob's government: this man is sent for by Mr. Hastings; he gives his deposition before
Sir Elijah Impey; and the deposition so given is not
to be found either upon the Company's record, in
Sir Elijah Impey's trunk, in Jonathan Scott's trunk,
nor in any other place whatever.
The evidence of
a witness who could speak most clearly, as probably
he did, and most decisively, upon this subject, is
sunk. They suppress, and dare not produce, the affidavit of the man who was at the bottom of every
secret of both governments. They had the folly to
let you know, obliquely, that he had been sent for
by Mr. Hastings, but they conceal the information
obtained from him: a silence more damning than
any positive evidence could be. You have here a
proof of their practice of producing such evidence
only as they thought most favorable to their wicked
purposes, in the destruction of this great and ancient
family.
But all the English, they say, believed in the existence of this rebellion. This we deny. Mr. Purling, who was Resident the year before its pretended explosion, has told you that he never knew of anything like a plot carrying on by these women. We
were almost ashamed to put the question to him.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 119
Did Mr. Bristow, the next Resident, know or believe
in this plot? He seems, indeed, to have been induced to give some oblique hints to Mr. Hastings
of improper conduct on the part of the Begums, but
without stating what it was. In a letter to Mr.
Hastings, he appears to endeavor to soften the cruel
temper of this inflexible man by going a little way
with him, by admitting that he thought they had behaved improperly. When Mr. Wombwell, another Resident, is asked whether any Englishman doubted
of it, he says Mr. Bristow doubted of it. No one,
indeed, who reads these papers, can avoid seeing
that Mr. Bristow did not believe one word of it, - no
more, in fact, than did Mr. Hastings, or anybody else.
Blt, my Lords, let us go from these inferior agents
and servants of the Company to their higher officers.
Did Mr. Stables believe it? This gentleman was
Mr. Hastings's colleague in the Council, -- a man
of as much honor, I really believe, as ever went to
India,- a faithful old servant of the Company, and
very worthy of credit. I believe there is not a spot
upon him during all his long service under the Company: if any, it is his being a little too obsequious, sometimes, to Mr. Hastings. Did he believe it?
No, he did not: and yet he was one of the persons
authorized to investigate it coolly, and most able to
do so.
Upon the whole, then, the persons who best knew
the state of the country did not believe it; the Nabob
did not believe it; the Begums were never charged
with it; no ground of suspicion is suggested, except loose rumors and the story of two nudjeeves.
Under these circumstances the treasures of these ancient ladies were seized, their property confiscated,
? ? ? ? 120 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
and the Nabob dragged most reluctantly to this act.
Yes, my Lords, this poor, miserable victim was forced
to violate all the laws of Nature, all decency, all
property, to rob his own mother, for the benefit
of Mr. Hastings. All this he was forced to do: he
was made the reluctant instrument of punishing his
mother and grandmother for a plot of which even
their accusers do not pretend to say that the parties
accused had ever received any intimation.
My Lords, in forming your judgment upon this
nefarious proceeding, your Lordships will not fail to
advert to the fundamental principles, the acknowledged maxims and established rules, of all judgment and justice,- that conviction ought to precede execution, that trial ought to precede conviction, and that a prosecutor's information and evidence ought
to be the preliminary step and substance of the trial.
Here everything was reversed: Sir Elijah Impey
goes up with the order for execution; the party
accused is neither arraigned nor tried; this same
Sir Elijah then proceeds to seek for witnesses and
to take affidavits; and in the mean time neither the
Nabob, the ostensible prosecutor, nor his mother and
grandmother, the parties accused, knew one word of
the matter.
But possibly some peculiarity in the circumstances
of the case rendered such a proceeding necessary,
and may justify it. No such peculiarity has been
proved or even alleged; nay, it is in the highest
degree improbable that it could have existed. Mr.
Hastings had another opportunity of doing himself
justice. When an account of this business was
transmitted to the Court of Directors, they ordered
him to inquire into it: and your Lordships will see
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 121
what he did in consequence of this order. Your
Lordships will then judge of the extreme audacity
of the defence which he has made of this act at your
bar, after having refused to institute any inquiry into
it, although he had the positive order of the Court
of Directors, and was in the place where that inquiry
could be made effectually, and in the place where
the unfortunate women could have an opportunity
of clearing themselves.
I will first read to your Lordships an extract from
the letter of the Court of Directors to the board at
Calcutta, dated the 14th of February, 1783.
"4. By the second article of the treaty [of Chunar] the Nabob is permitted to resume such jaghires
as he shall think proper, with a reserve, that all such
jaghiredars, for the amount of whose jaghires the
Company are guaranties, shall, in case of a resumption of their lands, be paid the amount of the net collections through the Resident.
" 5. We do not see how the Governor-General
could consent to the resumption of such lands as
the Company had engaged should remain in the
hands of those who possessed them previous to the
execution of the late treaty, without stronger proofs
of the Begums' defection than have been laid before
us; neither can we allow it to be good policy to reduce the several jaghiredars, and thus uniting the territory, and the troops maintained for the protection of that territory, under one head, who, by that means, at some future period, may become a very
powerful enemy to the Company.
"6. With respect to the resumption of the jaghires possessed by the Begums in particular, and the
? ? ? ? 122 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
subsequent seizure of the treasure deposited with the
Vizier's mother, which the Governor-General, in his
letter to the board, 23d January, 1782, has declared
he strenuously encouraged and supported, we hope
and trust, for the honor of the British nation, that the
measure appeared to be fully justified in the eyes of
all Hindostan. The Governor-General has informed
us that it can be well attested, that the Begums principally excited and supported the late commotions,
and that they carried their inveteracy to the English
nation so far as to aim at our utter extirpation.
" 7. It must have been publicly known that in
1775 the Resident at the Vizier's court not only
obtained from the Begum, widow of the late Sujah
Dowlah, on the Nabob's account, thirty lacs of rupees,
half of which was to be paid to the Company, but
also the forbearance of twenty-six lacs, for the repayment of which she had security in land, on the Nabob's agreeing to renounce all further claims upon her, and that to this agreement the Company were
guaranties.
"8. We find that on the 21st December, 1775,
the Begum complained of a breach of engagements
on the part of the Nabob, soliciting your protection
for herself, her mother, and for all the women belonging to the seraglio of the late Nabob, from the distresses to which they were reduced; in consequence whereof it was agreed in consultation, 3d January,
1776, to remonstrate with the Vizier, - the Governor-General remarking, that, as the representative of
our government has become an agent in this business, and has pledged the honor and faith of the
Company for the punctual observance of the conditions under which the treaty was concluded, you had
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SIXTH DAY. 123
a right to interfere, and justice demanded it, if it
should appear that those engagements have been violated. And the board at the same time resolved,
that, as soon as the Begum's engagements with the
Nabob, to which Mr. Bristow is a party, shall be fulfilled on her part, this government will think themselves bound to protect her against any further demand or molestation. " 9. If, therefore, the disaffection of the Begums
was not a matter of public notoriety, we cannot but be
alarmed for the effects which these subsequent transactions must have had on the minds of the natives of
India. The only consolation we feel upon this occasion is, that the amount of those jaghires for which
the Company were guaranties is to be paid through
our Resident at the court of the Vizier; and it very
materially concerns the credit of your government on
no account to suffer such payments to be evaded.
"10. If it shall hereafter be found that the Be. .
gums did not take that hostile part against the Company which has been represented, as well in the Governor-General's Narrative as in several documents
therein referred to, -and as it nowhere appears,
from the papers at present in our possession, that
they excited any commotion previous to the imprisonment of Rajah Cheyt Sing, but only armed themselves in consequence of that transaction, - and as it
is probable that such a conduct proceeded entirely
from motives of self-defence, under an apprehension
that they themselves might likewise be laid under
unwarrantable contributions, -- we direct that you
use your influence with the Vizier that their jaghires
may be restored to them; but if they should be under apprehensions respecting the future conduct of
? ? ? ? 124 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the Vizier, and wish our further protection, it is our
pleasure that you afford those ladies an asylum within the Company's territories, and there be paid the
amount of the net collections of their jaghires, agreeably to the second article of the late treaty, through
the medium of our Resident, as may be ascertained
upon an average estimate of some years back. "
You see, my Lords, the Directors had received
every one of his false impressions. They had conceived an idea, that, after the rebellion of Cheyt
Sing, (but not before, upon his own showing,) the
Begums had shown a disposition to arm. They here
assume a false fact, which Mr. Hastings stated in
his representation of the business to them. They
assume a variety of other false facts: they assume
that the amount of the jaghires of the Begums were
to be paid them in regular pensions; whereas they
were totally confiscated, without any compensation at
all. And yet, upon Mr. Hastings's own showing,
they found the transaction to be so dishonorable to
the British government, that they desire him to make
inquiry into it, and give redress accordingly.
Here, then, is another order of the Company, another call upon Mr. Hastings to examine to the bottom of this affair. The Directors, after giving him credit for that enormous mass of falsehoods which
we have proved him to have stated in his Narrative,
found themselves so utterly dissatisfied, that they
gave this conditional order to restore the Begums to
their jaghires. Your Lordships will find it in evidence upon your minutes, that he contumaciously
disobeyed this order, -that he would not consent
to the propositions of the Council for inquiring
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 125
into the conduct of these injured women, but stifled
every attempt that was made by others to do them
justice. And yet he here has the effrontery to propose that your Lordships should inquire into the business at your bar, --that you should investigate
a matter here which he refused to inquire into on
the spot, though expressly ordered by his masters so
to do.
I will now read to your Lordships a short extract
from his own narrative of his own proceedings. It
begins with reciting part of a note entered by Mr.
Macpherson in the Consultations of the Council, at
the time when the orders of the Court of Directors
which I have just alluded to were taken into consideration.
"' What the Court of Directors seem to have most
at heart are, first, that the engagement of the second
article of the Benares treaty should be faithfully fulfilled, - and, secondly, to guard against the future misconduct of the Vizier, if he should be disposed
to oppress the Begums; that we should therefore
ascertain whether the amount of the jaghires of the
Begums is regularly paid to them through the Company's Resident, and give them notice that no future demands shall be made upon them. This the Governor-General might, I think, do in a letter that
would make the Begums sensible of their past misconduct, yet inform them of the lenity and gracious intentions of the Company, in ordering them an asylum in Bengal, in case of future distress. "
In consequence of the foregoing opinion from Mr.
Macpherson, the following minute was delivered by
the Governor-General.
"I should gladly acquiesce in the motion made
? ? ? ? 126 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
by Mr. Macpherson, if I thought it possible to frame
a letter to the Begums in any terms which should
at the same time convey the intimation proposed by
it and not defeat the purpose of it, or be productive
of evils greater than any which exist in consequence
of the proceedings which have already taken place,
and which time has almost obliterated. The orders
of the Court of Directors are conditional; they require nothing, but in the event of discoveries made subsequent to the advices which were before you on
the 14th February last, in alleviation of the former
conduct of the Begums. Nothing has since appeared in relation to them, but their refusal, or
rather that of one, to fulfil her engagements for the
payment of the remainder of the sum exacted from
her by the Nabob Vizier in the beginning of last
year. Whatever obedience may be due to the clear
ascertained spirit of the orders of the Court of
Directors, this obligation cannot extend to points
to which neither the letter nor evident spirit of
their orders apply. If I am rightly informed, the
Nabob Vizier and the Begums are on terms of mutual good-will. It would ill become this government
to interpose its influence by any act which might
tend to revive their animosities: and a very slight
occasion would be sufficient to effect it. It will be
to little purpose to tell them that their conduct has,
in our estimation of it, been very wrong, and at the
same time to announce to them the orders of our
superiors, which more than indicate the reverse.
They will instantly take fire on such a declaration,
proclaim the judgment of the Company in their favor,
demand a reparation of the acts which they will construe wrongs with such a sentence warranting that
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 127
construction, --and either accept the invitation, to
the proclaimed scandal of the Vizier, which will not
add to the cre~dit of our government, or remain in
his dominions, but not under his authority, to add
to his vexations and the disorders of the country, by
continual intrigues and seditions. Enough already
exists to affect his peace, and the quiet of his people;
if we cannot heal, let us not inflame the wounds
which have been inflicted.
"If the Begums think themselves aggrieved to
such a degree as to justify them in an appeal to a
foreign jurisdiction, - to appeal to it against a man
standing in the relation of son and grandson to them,
- to appeal to the justice of those who have been the
abettors and instruments of their imputed wrongs, --
let us at least permit them to be the judges of their
own feelings, and prefer their complaints before we
offer to redress them: they will not need to be
prompted. I hope I shall not depart from the simplicity of official language, in saying, that the majesty of justice ought to be approached with solicitation, not
descend to provoke or invite it, much less to debase
itself by the suggestion of wrongs and the promise of
redress, with the denunciation of punishment before
trial, and even before accusation. "
My Lords, if, since the beginning of the world,
such a paper as this was ever before written by a
person standing in thell relation of a servant to his
master, I shall allow that every word we have said to
your Lordships upon this occasion to mark his guilt
ought to be expunged from your minutes and from
our charges.
Before I proceed to make any observations upon
this act of open rebellion against his superiors, I
? ? ? ? 128 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
must beg your Lordships to remark the cruelty of
purpose, the hostile feeling, towards these injured
women, which were displayed in this daring defiance. Your Lordships will find that he never is a rebel to one party without being a tyrant to some
others; that rebel and tyrant are correlative terms,
when applied to him, and that they constantly go
together.
It is suggested by the Directors, that the Nabob is
the persecutor, the oppressor, and that Mr. Hastings
is the person who is to redress the wrong. But here
they have mistaken the matter totally. For we have
proved to your Lordships that Mr. Hastings was the
principal in the persecution, and that the Nabob was
only an instrument. "If I am rightly informed,"
he says, " the Nabob and the Begums are on terms
of mutual good-will. It would ill become this government to interpose its influence by any act which might tend to revive their animosities: and a very
slight occasion would be sufficient to effect it. " What
animosities had they towards each other? None that
we know of. Mr. Hastings gets the Nabob to rob
his mother; and then he supposes, contrary to truth,
contrary to fact, contrary to everything your Lordships have heard, that the Nabob would fall into a fury, if his mother was to obtain any redress, - and
that, if the least inquiry into this business was made,
it would create a flame in the Nabob's mind, on account of the active, energetic, spirited part he had taken in these transactions. " Therefore," says he,
"oh, for God's sake, soothe the matter! It is a
green wound; don't uncover it; do nothing to irritate. It will be to little purpose to tell them that
their conduct has in our estimation of it been very
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SIXTH DAY. 129
wrong, and at the same time announce to them the
orders of our superiors, which more than indicate
the reverse. " Now, my Lords, to what does all this
amount? "First," says he, "I will not do them
justice, -- I will not enter upon an inquiry into their
wrongs. " Why? "Because they charge us with
having inflicted them. " Then, surely, for that reason, you ought to commence an inquiry. " No," says
he, " that would be telling them that our superiors
suspect we are in the wrong. " But when his superiors more than indicated suspicions, was he not bound
tenfold to make that inquiry, for his honor and for
their satisfaction, which they direct him to make?
No, he will not do it, "because," says he, " the Begums would either accept the offer of an asylum in
the Company's territories, to the proclaimed scandal
of the Vizier, which would not add to the credit of
our government, or they would remain in his dominions, but not under his authority, to add to his vexations, and the disorders of the country, by continual intrigues and seditions. " You see, my Lords, this man is constantly thrusting this peaceable Nabob before him, goading and
pushing him on, as if with a bayonet behind, to the
commission of everything that is base and dishonorable. You have him here declaring that he will not
satisfy the Directors, his masters, in their inquiries
about those acts, for fear of the Nabob's taking umbrage, and getting into a flame with his mother, --
and for fear the mother, supported by the opinion
of the Directors, should be induced to resent her
wrongs. What, I say, does all this amount to? It
amounts to this: -" The Begums accuse me of doing them injustice; the Directors indicate a suspicion
VOL. XII. 9
? ? ? ? 130 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
that they have been injured; therefore I will not
inquire into the matter. " Why? "Because it may
raise disturbances. " But what disturbance could it
raise? The mother is disarmed, and could not hurt
the Nabob. All her landed estates he knew were
confiscated; he knew all her money was in his own
possession; he knew she had not the means, if she
had been disposed, to create intrigues and cabals; --
what disturbance, then, could be created by his sending a letter to know what she had to say upon the subject of her wrongs?
"If," says he, "the Begums think themselves aggrieved. " Observe, my Lords, that the institution of
an inquiry is no measure of the Begums; it is an
order of the Court of Directors, made by them upon his own representation of his own case, and upon nothing else. The Begums did not dare to murmur;
they did not dare to ask for redress.
