upon the subject of his attachment to the English,
and his readiness to show the sincerity of it upon all
occasions.
and his readiness to show the sincerity of it upon all
occasions.
Edmund Burke
"
Continuation of the charge:"'That some time in or about the month of December, 1783, the Nabob Bahadur, another of the brothers of the said Nabob of Oude, did represent to
the said Bristow, that he, the said Nabob Bahadur, had not received a farthing of his allowance for
the current year, and was without food; and being
wounded by an assassin, who had also murdered his
aunt in the very capital of Oude, the said Nabob
Bahadur had not a daum to pay the surgeon, who
attended him for the love of God alone. That at or
about the period of this said representation the said
Bristow was recalled, and the said Warren Hastings
proceeded up to Lucknow, but did not inquire into
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 175
the said representations transmitted by the said Bristow to Calcutta, nor did order any relief. "
Mr. Hastings's answer to the part of the charge
last read:" And the said Warren Hastings further says, that
on the 29th of January, 1784, after the recall of the
said Bristow, he, the said. Bristow, did transmit to
the Governor-General and Council two letters, one
dated 28th of December, 1783, the other 7th of
January, 1784, purporting to be written by the said
Nabob Bahadur, addressed to him, the said Bristow,
to the effect in the said article stated; and the said
Warren Hastings admits, that, when at Lucknow, he
did not institute any inquiry into the supposed transaction in the said 17th article stated, or make any order concerning the said Bahadur, and he denies
that it was his duty so to do. "
Here is the name of this Nabob from a list of the
jaghiredars stated by Mr. Purling, page 485 printed
Minutes. Amongst the names of jaghiredars, the
times when granted, and the amount of the jaghires,
there occurs that of the Nabob Bahadur, with a grant
of a jaghire of the amount of 20,000 rupees.
[ The Lord Chancellor here remarked, that what
had been just read was matter of the 17th article of
the charge and parts of the answer to it, and that,
upon looking back to the former proceedings, it has
escaped his attention, if any matter contained in the
17th article had been made matter of the charge;
that it therefore seemed to him that it could not be
brought in upon a reply, not having been made matter of the charge originally.
? ? ? ? 176 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Mr. Burke. My Lords, I have to say to this, that
I believe you have heard these facts made matter of
charge by the House of Commons, that I conceive
they hlave been admitted by the prisoner, and that
tile Commons have nothing to do with the proofs of
anythilng in their charge which is fullly and in terms
admitted. The proofs which they have produced to
your Lordships were upon matters which were contested; but here the facts are admitted in the fullest
mannler. We neither have abandoned them, intended to abandon them, or ever shall abandon them;
we have made them, as a charge, upon record; the
answers to them have been recorded, which answers
are complete admissions of every fact in the charge.
Lord Chancellor. I do not make myself understood. The objection is not that there has not been
evidence given upon the 17th article, but at the
close of the case on the part of the Managers for the
House of Commons no mention having been made
of the matter contained in the 17th article, that
therefore, although it may all have been admitted
by the answer to be true, yet in justice, if from that
answer you ground the charge, it is necessary the
defendant should be heard upon it.
iMr. Burke. If your Lordships choose that the
defendant shall be heard upon it, we hlave no kind
of objection, nor ever had, or proposed an objection
to the defendant being heard upon it. Your Lordships know that the defendant's counsel value themselves upon having abandoned their defence against certain parts of the charge; your Lordships know
that they declared that they broke off thus in the
middle of their defence in order to expedite this
business.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 177
Lord Chancellor. Referring to the proceedings, I
think it a matter perfectly clear, that, in the course
of the charge, after certain articles had been gone
through, the Managers for the Commons closed the
case there, leaving therefore all the other articles,
excepting those that had been discussed, as matters
standing with the answers against them, but not insisted upon in making out the charge. Of course, therefore, if the defendant had gone into any of those
articles, the defendant must have been stopped upon
them, because he would then have been making a
case in defence to that which had not been made
a case in the prosecution. The objection, therefore,
is not at all that no evidence has been examined.
To be sure, it would be an answer to that to say,
you are now proceeding upon an admission; but even
upon those facts that are admitted, (if the facts are
admitted that are insisted upon as matter in charge,)
that should come in the original state of the cause,
and the defendant in common justice must be heard
upon that, and then, and then only, come the observations in reply.
Mr. Burke. We do not know, nor are informed,
that any charge, information, or indictment, that is
before the court, and upon record, and is not denied
by the defendant, does not stand in full force against
him. We conceive it to be so; we conceive it to
be agreeable to the analogy of all proceedings; and
the reason why we did not go into and insist upon
it was, that, having a very long cause before us,
and having the most full and complete admission
upon this subject, we did not proceed further in
it. The defendant defends himself by averring that
VOL. XII. 12
? ? ? ? 178 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
it was not his duty. It was not our business to prove
that it was his duty. It was he that admitted the
facts assumed to be the foundation of his duty; the
negative he was bound to prove, and he never offered to prove it. All that I can say upon this point
is, that his delinquency in the matter in question
appeared to us to be a clear, distinct case, - to be a
great offence, - an offence charged upon the record,
admitted upon the record, and never by us abandoned. As to his defence having been abandoned,
we refer your Lordships to the last petition laid by
him upon your table, (that libellous petition, which
we speak of as a libel upon the House of Commons,)
and which has no validity but as it asserts a matter
of fact from the petitioner; and there you will find
that he has declared explicitly, that, for the accommodation and ease of this business, and for its expedition, he did abandon his defence at a certain period. Lord Chancellor. A charge consisting of a variety
of articles in their nature (however connected with
each other in their subject, but in their nature) distinct and specific, if only certain articles are pressed
in the charge, to those articles only can a defence
be applied; and all the other articles, that are not
made matter of charge originally, have never, in the
course of any proceeding whatever, been taken up
originally in reply.
Mr. Burke. With great respect to your Lordship's judgment, we conceive that the objection taken
from our not having at a certain period argued or
observed upon the prisoner's answer to the articles
not insisted upon is not conclusive; inasmuch as the
record still stands, and as our charge still stands.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 179
It was never abandoned; and the defendant might
have made a justification to it, if he had thought
fit: he never did think fit so to do. If your Lordships think that we ought not to argue upon it
here in our reply, because we did not argue upon
it before, - well and good; but we have argued and
do argue in our reply many things to which he never
gave any answer at all. I shall beg leave, if your
Lordships please, to retire with my fellow Managers
for a moment, to consult whether we shall press this
point or not. We shall not detain your Lordships
many minutes.
(The Managers withdrew: in a few minutes the Managers returned again into the Hall. )
Mr. Burke. My Lords, the Managers have consulted among themselves upon this business; they
first referred to your printed proceedings, in order
to see the particular circumstance on which the observation of your Lordship is founded; we find it
thus stated: --" Then the Managers for the Commons informed the Lords, that, saving to themselves their undoubted rights and privileges, the Cominmons
were content to rest their charge here. " We rested
our charge there, not because we meant to efface any
precedent matter of the charge which had been made
by us, and of which the facts had been admitted by
the defendant, but, simply saving our rights and privileges, that is, to resume, (and to make new matter, if we thought fit,) the Commons were content to rest
the charge there.
I have further to remark to your Lordships, that
the counsel for the defendant have opened a vast
variety of matter that is not upon record, either
? ? ? ? 180 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
on our part or on theirs, in order to illustrate and
to support their cause; and they have spoken day
after day upon the principles on which their defence
was made. My great object now is an examination
of those principles, and to illustrate the effects of
these principles by examples which are not the less
cogent, the less weighty, and the less known, because they are articles in this charge. Most assuredly they are not. If your Lordships recollect
the speeches that were made here, you know that
great merit was given to Mr. Hastings for matters
that were not at all in the charge, and which would
put us under the greatest difficulties, if we were to
take no notice of them in our reply. For instance,
his merits in the Mahratta war, and a great mass of
matter upon that subject, were obliquely, and for
other purposes, brought before you, upon which they
argued. That immense mass of matter, containing
an immense mass of principles, and which was sometimes supported by alleged facts, sometimes by none,
they have opened and argued upon, as matter relative to principle. In answer to their argument, we
propose to show the mischiefs that have happened
from the mischievous principles laid down by Mr.
Hastings, and the mischievous consequences of them.
If, however, after this explanation, your Lordships
are of opinion that we ought not to be allowed to
take this course, wishing to fall in with your Lordships' sentiments, we shall abandon it. But we will
remind your Lordships that such things stand upon
your records; that they stand unanswered and admitted on your records; and consequently they cannot be destroyed by any act of ours, but by a renunciation of the charge, which renunciation we cannot
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 181
make, because the defendant has clearly and fully
admitted it to be founded in fact. We cannot plead
error; we cannot retract it. And why? Because
he has admitted it. We therefore only remind your
Lordships that the charge stands uncontradicted;
and that the observation we intended to make upon
it was to show your Lordships that the principles
upon which he defends all such conduct are totally
false and groundless. But though your Lordships
should be of opinion that we cannot press it, yet we
cannot abandon it; it is not in your power, it is not
in our power, it is not in his power to abandon that
charge. You cannot acquit him of that charge; it
is impossible. If, however, your Lordships, for the
accommodation of business, method of proceedings,
or any circumstance of that kind, wish we should say
no more upon the subject, we close the subject there.
Your Lordships are in possession both of the charge
and the admission; and we wish, and we cannot wish
better than, to leave it as it is upon the record.
The Lord Chancellor here said, -- The opinion of
the Lords can only be with me matter of conjecture.
I certainly was not commanded by the House to state
the observation that had occurred to me; but in the
position in which it now stands, I feel no difficulty
ill saying, as my own judgment, that nothing call be
matter in reply that does not relate to those articles
that were pressed in the original charge; and therefore, in this position of the business of reply, you cannot go into new matter arising out of other articles that were not originally insisted upon.
Mr. Burke. We were aware of the objection that
might be made to admitting our observations, if con
? ? ? ? 182 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
sidered as observations upon the 17th article, but not
when considered with reference to facts on the record
before you, for the purpose of disproving the principles upon which the defendant and his counsel had relied: that was the purpose for which we proposed
chiefly to make them. But your Lordship's [the
Lord Chancellor's] own personal authority will have
great weight with us, and, unless we perceive some
other peer differ from you, we will take it in the
course we have constantly done. We never have sent
your Lordships out of the hall to consent [consult? ]
upon a matter upon which that noble lord appeared
to have formed a decision in his own mind; we take
for granted that what is delivered from the woolsack,
to which no peer expresses a dissent, is the sense of
the House; as such we take it, and as such we submit to it in this instance.
Therefore, leaving this upon the record as it stands,
without observing upon it, and submitting to your
Lordships' decision, that we cannot, according to order, observe in reply upon what was not declared by us to be a part of the charges we meant to insist
upon, we proceed to another business. ]
We have already stated to your Lordships, and we
beg to remind you of it, the state and condition of
the country of Oude when Mr. Hastings first came
to it, - his subsequent and immediate usurpation of
all the powers of government, and the use he made
of them, - the tyranny he exercised over the Nabob
himself, - the tyranny he exercised upon his mother
and grandmother, and all the other females of his
family, and their dependants of every description, to
the number of about eight hundred persons, - the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DA i. 183
tyranny exercised (though we are not at liberty to
press it now) upon his brethren. We have shown
you how he confiscated the property of all the jaghiredars, the nobility of the country. We have proved to your Lordships that he was well acquainted with all
the misery and distress occasioned by these proceedings, and that he afforded the sufferers no relief. We now proceed to review the effect of this general mass
of usurpation, tyranny, and oppression upon the revenues and the prosperity of the country.
Your Lordships will first be pleased to advert to
the state in which Mr. Hastings found the country,in what state he found its revenues, -- who were the executive ministers of the government, -what their
conduct was, and by whom they were recommended
and supported. For the evidence of these facts we
refer your Lordships to your printed Minutes: there,
my Lords, they stand recorded: they never can be
expunged out of your record, and the memory of
mankind, whether we be permitted to press them at
this time upon your Lordships or not. Your Lordships will there find in what manner the government
was carried on in Oude in 1775, before the period
of Mr. Hastings's usurpation. Mr. Hastings, you will
find, has himself there stated that the minister was
recommended by the BIegums; and you will remark
this, because Mr. Hastings afterwards mnakes her interference in the government of her son a part of
his crimination of the Begum.
The Resident at the court of Oude thus writes on
the 2d of March, 1775.
"Notwithstanding the confidence the Nabob re
poses in Murtezza Khaln, the Begums are much dis
? ? ? ? 184 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
satisfied with his elevation. They recommended to his
Excellency to encourage the old servants of the government, whose influence in the country, and experience, lnight have strengthened his own authority, and seated him firmly on the musnud. In some measure
this, too, may appear consistent with the interests of
the Company; for, as Elija Khaan and the old ministers
have by frequent instances within their own knowledge experienced the power of our government, such
men, I should conceive, are much more likely to pay
deference to the Company than a person who at
present can have but a very imperfect idea of the
degree of attention which ought to be paid to our
connection with the Nabob. "
Your Lordships see that the Begums recommended
the old servants, contrary to the maxims of Rehoboam,
-those who had served his father and had served the
country, and who were strongly inclined to support
the English interest there. Your Lordships will remark the effects of the Begum's influence upon the
state of things in 1775, that the Nabob had been
advised by his mother to employ the confidential
servants of his father, -- persons conversant in the
affairs of the country, persons interested in it, and
persons who were well disposed to support the English
connection. Your Lordships will now attend to a
letter from Mr. Bristow, at Lucknow, to the board,
dated 28th November, 1775.
"I also neglected no part of my duty on the spot,
but advised the minister, even at Lucknow, according to my letter of the 3d instant, to recommend it to
the Nabob to dismiss his useless and mutinous troops,
which measure seems by present appearances to have
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 185
succeeded beyond expectation: as the rest of the army do now pay the greatest attention to his Excellency's orders; already the complaints of the violences the troops used to commit are greatly decreased; they profess obedience; and, by the best intelligence I can obtain of their disposition, there seems to be little doubt that the example made by
disbanding Bussunt's corps has every good effect
we could wish, which had crossed the river and voluntarily surrendered their arms the day before yesterday to the Nabob. "
His next letter is dated 13th June, 1776.
"HONORABLE SIR AND SIRS, -It is Elija Khan's
first object to regulate the Vizier's revenue; and I
must do him the justice to say, that the short time
he has been in office he has been indefatigable, and
already settled the greater part of the province of
Oude, and fixed on the districts for the assignments
of the army subsidy; Corah and Allahabad he has
disposed of, and called for the Dooab and Rohilcund
accounts, in order to adjust them as soon as possible.
This activity will, I hope, produce the most salutary
effects, -- as, the present juncture being the commencement of the season for the cultivation, the aumils, by being thus early placed in their offices, have
the opportunity of advancing tukavy, encouraging the
ryots, and making their agreements in their several
districts, in letting under-farms, or disposing of the
lands in such a manner as they may judge most
expedient. If, thouglh similar to the late minister's
conduct, a delay of two or three months should occur
in the settlement of the lands, the people throughout
the country would be dislheartened, and inevitably a
? ? ? ? 186 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
very heavy balance accrue on the- revenue. I have
troubled the honorable board with this detail, in the
first place, to show the propriety of Elija Khan's
conduct, and, in the next, the essential service that
will be rendered to the Vizier by continuing Colonel
Parker's detachment during the whole rains in Corah,
if required by the Vizier. "
My Lords, you have now had a view of the state
of Oude, previous to the first period of our connection with it. Your Lordships have seen and understand that part of the middle period, with which we do not mean to trouble you again. You will now be
pleased to attend to a letter from Fyzoola Khan to
the Governor-General, received the 13th of February,
1778.
" This country of Cuttah, which formerly depended on the Rohilla States, and which I consider as
now appertaining to the Company, was very populous and flourishing; but since the commencement
of the Nabob Vizier's government, the farmers appointed by his ministers have desolated the country.
Its situation is at present very ruinous; thousands
of villages, formerly populous, are now utterly deserted, and no trace left of them. I have already
written to Roy Buckstowr Sing a full account of the
tyranny and oppression exercised by the farmers, to
be communicated to you: the constant revenue of a
country depends on the care of its rulers to preserve
it in a flourishing state. I have been induced to
make the representation by my attachment to the
interest of the Company; for otherwise it is no concern of mine. Should these oppressions continue
one or two years longer, and the rulers take no
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 187
measures to put a stop to them, the whole country
will be a desert. "
My Lords, upon these statements I have only to
make this remark, - that you have seen the first state
of this country, and that the period when it had
fallen into the state last described was about two
years after Mr. Hastings had obtained the majority
in the Council and began to govern this country by
his lieutenants. We know that the country was put
by him under military collectors: you see the consequences. The person who makes this representation to Mr. Hastings of the state of the country, of its distress and calamity, and of the desolation of a
thousand of the villages formerly flourishing in it, is
no less a person than a prince of a neighboring country, a person of whom you have often heard, and to
whom the cause of humanity is much indebted,
namely, Fyzoola Khan,- a prince whose country
the English Resident, travelling through, declares to
be cultivated like a garden. That this was the state
of the Rohilla country is owing to its having very
fortunately been one of those that escaped the dominion of Mr. Hastings.
We will now read to your Lordships a letter from
Sir Eyre Coote to the board at Calcutta, dated the
11th of September, 1779.
"HONORABLE SIR AND SIRS, - The day before yesterday I encamped near Allahabad, where the Vizier
did me the honor of a visit; and yesterday morning,
in my way hither, I returned it, and was received by
his Excellency with every mark of respect and distinction. This morning he called here, an I we had
some general conversation, which principally turned
? ? ? ? 188 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
upon the subject of his attachment to the English,
and his readiness to show the sincerity of it upon all
occasions. It is to be wished we had employed the
influence which such favorable sentiments must have
given us more to the benefit of the country and ourselves; but I fear the distresses which evidently appear on the face of the one, and the failure of the revenues to the other, are not to be wholly ascribed
to the Vizier's mismanagement. "
This is the testimony of Mr. Hastings's own pensioner, Sir Eyre Coote, respecting the known state of
the country during the time of this horrible usurpation, which Sir Eyre Coote mentions under the soft
name of our influence. But there could be but one
voice upon the subject, and that your Lordships shall
now hear from Mr. Hastings himself. We refer
your Lordships to the Minute of the Governor-General's Consultation, Fort William, 21st May, 1781:
he is here giving his reasons for going into the upper
provinces.
" The province of Oude having fallen into a state
of great disorder and confusion, its resources being
in an extraordinary degree diminished, and the Nabob Asoph ul Dowlah having earnestly entreated the
presence of the Governor-General, and declared, that,
unless some effectual measures are taken for his
relief, he must be under the necessity of leaving his
country, and coming down to Calcutta, to present his
situation to this government, -- the Governor-General
therefore proposes, with the concurrence of Mr. Wheler, to visit the province of Onde as speedily as the
affairs of the Presidency will admit, in hopes that,
from a minute and personal observation of the cir
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 189
cumstances of that country, the system of management which has been adopted, and the characters and
conduct of the persons employed, he may possibly be
able to concert and establish some plan by which the
province of Oude may in time be restored to its former state of affluence, good order, and prosperity. "
Your Lordships have now the whole chain of the
evidence complete, with regard to the state of the
country, up to the period of Mr. Hastings's journey
into the country. You see that Mr. Hastings himself admits it to have been formerly in a most flourishing, orderly, and prosperous state. Its condition in 1781 he describes to you in words than which no
enemy of his can use stronger, in order to paint the
state in which it then was. In this state he found
it, when he went up in the year 1781; and he left
it, with regard to any substantial regulation that was
executed or could be executed, in the state in which
he found it, --after having increased every one of
those grievances which he pretended to redress, and
taken from it all the little resources that remained
in it.
We now come to a subsequent period, at which
time the state of the country is thus described by Mr.
Bristow, on the 12th December, 1782. ' Despotism is the principle upon which every measure is founded, and the people in the interior parts
of the country are ruled at the discretion of the aumil
or foujdar for the time being. They exercise, within
the limits of their jurisdiction, the powers of life and
death, and decisions in civil and other cases, in the
same extent as the sovereign at the capital. The
forms prescribed by the ancient institutions of the
? ? ? ? 190 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Mogul empire are unattended to, and the will of the
provincial magistrate is the sole law of the people.
The total relaxation of the Vizier's authority, his
inattention and dislike to business, leave the aumils
in possession of this dangerous power, unawed, uncontrolled by any apprehension of retrospection, or the interference of justice. I can hardly quote an
instance, since the Vizier's accession to the musnud,
of an aumil having been punished for oppression,
though the complaints of the people and the state
of the country are notorious proofs of the violences
daily committed: it is even become unsafe for travellers to pass, except in large bodies; murders, thefts, and other enormities shocking to humanity, are committed in open day. "
In another paragraph of the same letter, he says, -
"' Such has been the system of this government,
that the oppressions have generally originated with
the aumils. They have been rarely selected for their
abilities or integrity, but from favor, or the means to
advance a large sum upon being appointed to their
office. The aumil enters upon his trust ruined in
reputation and fortune; and unless he accomplishes
his engagements, which is seldom the case, disgrace
and punishment follow. Though the balance of revenue may be rigorously demanded of him, it has not been usual to institute any inquiry for oppression.
The zemindars, thus left at the mercy of the aumils,
are often driven to rebellion. The weak are obliged
to submit to his exactions, or fly the country; and
the aumil, unable to reduce the more powerful, is
compelled to enter into a disgraceful compromise.
Every zemindar looks to his fort for protection, and
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 191
the country is crowded with them: Almas Ali Khan
asserts there are not less than seven hundred in his
districts. Hence it has become a general custom to
seize the brother, son, or some near relation or dependant of the different zemindars, as hostages for
the security of the revenue: a great aumil will sometimes have three or four hundred of these hostages,
whom he is obliged to confine in places of security. A
few men like Almas Ali Khan and Coja Ain ul Din
have, from their regularity in the performance of pecuniary engagements, rendered themselves useful to
the Vizier. A strict scrutiny into his affairs was at
all times irksome to his Excellency, and none of the
ministers or officers about his person possessing the
active, persevering spirit requisite to conduct the detail of engagements for a number of small farms,
it became convenient to receive a large sum from
a great farmer without trouble or deficiency. This
system was followed by the most pernicious consequences; these men were above all control, they exacted their own terms, and the districts they farmed were most cruelly oppressed. The revenue of Rohilcund is reduced above a third, and Almas Ali K han's
administration is well known to have been extremely
violent. "
We will next read to your Lordships an extract
from Captain Edwards's evidence.
" Q. Had you any opportunity of observing the
general face of the country in the time of Sujah
Dowlah? --A. I had. -- Q. Did you remark any
difference in the general state of the country at
that time and the period when you made your latter observation? -- did you observe any difference
? ? ? ? 192 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
between the condition of the country at that time,
that of Sujah Dowlah in the year 1774, and the
latter period you have mentioned? -- A. I did,a very material difference. - Q. In what respect? A. In the general aspect that the country bore,
and the cultivation of the country, -- that it was
infinitely better cultivated in 1774 than it was
in 1783. -- Q. You said you had no opportunity
of observing the face of the country till you was
appointed aide-de-camp to the Nabob? --A. No,
except by marching and countermarching. I marched
in the year 1774 through the Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah's provinces into Rohilcund. - Q. Had you those
opportunities from the time of your going there in
1774? -A. I had; but not so much as I had after
being appointed aide-de-camp to the Vizier, because
I was always before in a subordinate situation: I
marched in a direct line before, with the troops;
but afterwards, when I was aide-de-camp to his Excellency, I was my own master, and made frequent
excursions into the different parts of the country. Q. Had you an opportunity of observing the difference in the general happiness and disposition of the people? -A. I had. - Q. Did you observe a
difference in that respect also between your first
coming and the year 1783? -- A. Yes, a very sensible difference: in Sujah ul Dowlah's time the country was in a very flourishing state, in merchandise, cultivation, and every article of commerce, and the
people then seemed to be very happy under his government, which latterly was not the case; because
the country in reality appeared in the year 1774 in
a flourishing state, and in the year 1783 it appeared
comparatively forlorn and desolate. -- Q. Was the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 193
court of Asoph ul Dowlah, when you left India, equal
in point of splendor to what it was in the time of
Sujah ul Dowlah? --A. By no means: it was not
equally splendid, but far inferior. - Q. Were the
dependants and officers belonging to the court paid
in the same punctual manner? --A. No: I really
cannot say whether they were paid more regularly
in Sujall Dowlah's time, only they appeared more
wealthy and more able to live in a splendid style in
his time than they ever have done since his death. "
Here, then, your Lordships see the state of the
country in 1783. Your Lordships may trace the
whole progress of these evils, step by step, from the
death of Sujah ul Dowlah to the time of Mr. Hastings's obtaining a majority in the Council, after
which he possessed the sole and uncontrolled management of the country; you have seen also the
consequences that immediately followed till the year
1784, when he went up a second time into the
country.
I do not know, my Lords, that it is necessary to
make any observation upon this state of things. You
see that the native authority was, as we have proved,
utterly extinguished by Mr. Hastings, and that there
was no superintendent power but his. You have
heard of the oppressions of the farmers of the revenules; and we have shown you that these farmers
generally were English officers. We hlave shown you
in what manner Colonel Hannay, one of these farmers sent by Mr. Hastings, acted, and particularly the
accumulation of hostages which were made by him.
We have shown you, that by their arbitrary and tyrannical proceedings all regular government was subVOL. XIu. 13
? ? ? ? 194 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
verted, and that the country experienced the last and
most dreadful effects of anarchy. We have shown
you that no other security was left to any human being, but to intrench themselves in such forts as they could make, and that these forts, in one district only of the country, had increased in number to the amount of seven hundred. Your Lordships also
know, that, when the prisons and mud forts in which
Colonel IHannay kept his hostages confined were full,
he kept them in uncovered cages in the open air.
You know that all these farmers of revenue were
either English and military men, or natives under an
abject submission to them; you know that they had
the whole country in assignments, that the jaghlires
were all confiscated for their benefits; and you find
that the whole system had its origin at the time
when Mr. Hastings alone formed in effect the authority of the Supreme Council. The weakness of the Nabob, as Sir Eyre Coote tells you, could not have
been alone the cause of these evils, and that our influence over him, if not actually the cause of the utter ruin, desolation, and anarchy of that country, might
have been successfully exerted in preventing.
When your Lordships slhall proceed to judgment
upon these accumulated wrongs, arising out of the
usurped power of the prisoner at your bar, and redressed by him in no one instance whatever, let not
the usurpation itself of the Nabob's power be considered as a trivial matter. When any prince at the
head of a great country is entirely stripped of everything in his government, civil or military, by which
his rank may be distinguished or his virtues exercised, lie is in danger of becoming a mere animal,
and of abandoning himself wholly to sensual grati
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 195
fications. Feeling no personal interest in the institutions or in the general welfare of the country, he
suffers the former (and many wise and laudable institutions existed in the provinces of the Nabob, for
their good order and government) to fall into disuse,
and lie leaves the country itself to persons in inferior
situations, to be wasted and destroyed by them. You
find that in Oude, the very appearance of justice had
been banished out of it, and that every aumil exercised an arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes
of the people. My Lords, we have the proofs of all
these facts in our hands; they are in your Lordships'
minutes; and though we can state nothing stronger
than is stated in the papers themselves, yet we do not
so far forget our duty as not to point out to your
Lordships such observations as arise out of them.
To close the whole, your Lordships shall now hear
read an extract from a most curious and extraordinary letter, sent by him to the Court of Directors, preparatory to his return to England.
" My only remaining fear is, that the members of
the Council, seeing affairs through a different medium from that through which I view them, may be
disposed, if not to counteract the system which I
have formed, to withhold from it their countenance
and active support. While I myself remain, it will
be sufficient if they permit it to operate without interruption; and I almost hope, in the event of a new
admlinistration of your affairs which shall confine itself to the same forbearance, and manifest no symptoms of intended interference, the objects of my arrangements will be effectually attained; for I leave them in the charge of agents whose interests, ambi
? ? ? ? 196 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINMS.
tion, and every prospect of life are interwoven with
their success, and the hand of Heaven has visibly
blest the soil with every elementary source of progressive vegetation: but if a different policy shall be
adopted, if new agents are sent into the country and
armed with authority for the purpose of vengeance
or corruption, to no other will they be applied. If
new demands are raised on the Nabob Vizier, and
accounts overcharged on one side with a wide latitude taken on the other to swell his debt beyond the
means of payment, - if political dangers are portended, to ground on them the pleas of burdening his
country with unnecessary defences and enormous subsidies, - or if, even abstaining from direct encroachment on the Nabob's rights, your government shall show but a degree of personal kindness to the partisans of the late usurpation, or by any constructive
indication of partiality and disaffection furnish ground
for the expectation of an approaching change of system, I am sorry to say that all my labors will prove
abortive; for the slightest causes will be sufficient to
deject minds sore with the remembrance of past conflicts, and to elevate those whose only dependence is
placed in the renewal of the confusion which I have
labored with such zeal to eradicate, and will of course
debilitate the authority which can alone insure future success. I almost fear that this denunciation of
effects from causes so incompetent, as they will appear to those who have not had the experience which
I have had of the quick sensibility which influences
the habits of men placed in a state of polity so loose,
and subject to the continual variations of capricious and despotic authority, will be deemed overcharged, or perhaps void of foundation; nor, if they
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 197
should come to pass, will it be easy to trace them
with any positive evidence to their connection: yet
it is my duty to apprise you of what I apprehend,
on grounds which I deem of absolute certainty, may
come to pass; and I rely on your candor for a fair
interpretation of my intention. "
Here, my Lords, the prisoner at your bar has done
exactly what his bitterest accuser would do: he goes
through, head by head, every one of the measures
which he had himself pursued in the destruction of
the country; and he foretells, that, if any one of those
measures should again be pursued, or even if good
cause should be given to suspect they would be renewed, the country must fall into a state of inevitable destruction. This supersedes all observation. This
paper is a recapitulated, minute condemnation of every
step which he took in that country, and which steps
are every one of them upon your Lordships' minutes.
But, my Lords, we know very well the design of
these pretended apprehensions, and why he wished to
have that country left in the state he speaks of. He
had left a secret agent of his own to control that ostensible government, and to enable him, sitting in the place where he now sits, to continue to govern those
provinces in the way in which he now governs them.
[A murimur having arisen here, Mr. Burke proceeded. ]
If I am called upon to reword what I have just
said, I shall repeat my words, and show strong
grounds and reasons to indicate that he governs Oude
now as much as he ever did.
You see, my Lords, that the reform which he pretended to make in 1781 produced the calamities
? ? ? ? 198 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
which he states to have existed in 1784. We shall
now show that the reform which he pretended to
make in 1784 brought on the calamities which Lord
Cornwallis states in his evidence to have existed in
1787.
We will now read two letters from Lord Cornwallis: the first is dated the 16th November, 1787.
" I was received at Allahabad and'attended to
Lucknow by the Nabob and his ministers with every
mark of friendship and respect. I cannot, however,
express how much I was concerned, during my short
residence at his capital, and my progress through his
dominions, to be witness of the disordered state of
his finances and government, and of the desolate appearances of his country. The evils were too alarming to admit of palliation, and I thought it my duty to exhort him, in the most friendly manner, to endeavor to apply effectual remedies to them. He began with urging as apology, that, whilst he was not certain of the expense [extent? ] of our demands upon him, he had no real interest in being economical
in his expenses, and that, while we interfered in the
internal management of his affairs, his own authority
and that of his ministers were despised by his own
subjects. It would have been useless to discuss these
topics with him; but while I repeated my former
declarations of our being determined to give no
ground in future for similar complaints, he gave me
the strongest assurances of his being resolved to apply himself earnestly to the encouragement of agriculture, and to endeavor to revive the commerce of his countrv. "
The second is dated the 25th April, 1788.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 199
" Till I saw the Vizier's troops, I was not without
hope that upon an emergency he would have been
able to have furnished us with some useful cavalry;
but I have no reason to believe that he has any in
his service upon which it would be prudent to place
ally dependence; and I think it right to add, that
his country appears to be in so ruined a state, and
his finances ill so much disorder, that even in case of
war we ought not to depend upon any material support from him. "
My Lords, I have only to remark upon these letters, that, so far as they go, they prove the effects
of Mr. Hastings's reformation, from which he was
pleased to promise the Company such great things.
But when your Lordships know that he had left his
dependant and minister, Hyder Beg Khan, there,
whose character, as your Lordships will find by a
reference to your minutes h'lie has represented as
black as lhell, to be the real governor there, and to
carry on private correspolldence with him hlere, and
that lie had left Major Palmer, hlis private agent, for
a considerable time in that country to carry on hlis
affairs, your Lordsllips will easily see how it has
come to pass that the Vizier, such a manl as you have
heard him described to lbe, was not alone able to
restore prosperity to his country.
My Lords, you hlave now seen what was the situatioin of the country in Sujali Dowlah's tinme, prior to
Mr. Hastings's interferellnce with the government of
it, what it was during his government, and what situation it was in when Lord Corniwallis left it. Notihing now remains but to call your Lordships' attention to perhaps the most extraordillary part of these transactions. But before we proceed, we will beg leave
? ? ? ? 200 IMIPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
to go back and read to your Lordships the Nabob's
letter of the 24th February, 1780.
" I have received your letter, and understand the
contents. I cannot describe the solidity of your
friendship and brotherly affection which subsisted between you and my late father. From the friendship of the Company he received numberless advantages;
and I, notwithstanding I was left an orphan, from
your favor and that of tile Company was perfectly
at ease, being satisfied that everything would be
well, and that I should continue in the same security that I was during my father's lifetime, from your protection. I accordingly, from the day of' lis death,
have never omitted to cultivate your favor, and the
protection of the Company; and whatever was the
desire and directions of the Council at that time I
have ever since conformed to, and obeyed with readiness. Thanks be given to God that I have never as yet been backward in performing the will of the
English Company, of the Council, and of you, and
have always been from my heart ready to obey them,
and have never given you any trouble from my difficulties or wishes. This I have done simply frorm my own knowledge of your favor towards me, and from
my being certain that youl would learn the particulars
of my distresses and difficulties fiom other quarters,
and would then show your friendship and good-will
in whatever was for my advantage. But when the
knife had penetrated to the bone, and I was stlrrounded with such heavy distresses that I could no longer live inl expectations, I then wrote an account
of my difficulties. The answer whicll I have received
to it is such, that it has given inc inlexpressible grief
and affliction. I never llad the least idea or expec
?
Continuation of the charge:"'That some time in or about the month of December, 1783, the Nabob Bahadur, another of the brothers of the said Nabob of Oude, did represent to
the said Bristow, that he, the said Nabob Bahadur, had not received a farthing of his allowance for
the current year, and was without food; and being
wounded by an assassin, who had also murdered his
aunt in the very capital of Oude, the said Nabob
Bahadur had not a daum to pay the surgeon, who
attended him for the love of God alone. That at or
about the period of this said representation the said
Bristow was recalled, and the said Warren Hastings
proceeded up to Lucknow, but did not inquire into
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 175
the said representations transmitted by the said Bristow to Calcutta, nor did order any relief. "
Mr. Hastings's answer to the part of the charge
last read:" And the said Warren Hastings further says, that
on the 29th of January, 1784, after the recall of the
said Bristow, he, the said. Bristow, did transmit to
the Governor-General and Council two letters, one
dated 28th of December, 1783, the other 7th of
January, 1784, purporting to be written by the said
Nabob Bahadur, addressed to him, the said Bristow,
to the effect in the said article stated; and the said
Warren Hastings admits, that, when at Lucknow, he
did not institute any inquiry into the supposed transaction in the said 17th article stated, or make any order concerning the said Bahadur, and he denies
that it was his duty so to do. "
Here is the name of this Nabob from a list of the
jaghiredars stated by Mr. Purling, page 485 printed
Minutes. Amongst the names of jaghiredars, the
times when granted, and the amount of the jaghires,
there occurs that of the Nabob Bahadur, with a grant
of a jaghire of the amount of 20,000 rupees.
[ The Lord Chancellor here remarked, that what
had been just read was matter of the 17th article of
the charge and parts of the answer to it, and that,
upon looking back to the former proceedings, it has
escaped his attention, if any matter contained in the
17th article had been made matter of the charge;
that it therefore seemed to him that it could not be
brought in upon a reply, not having been made matter of the charge originally.
? ? ? ? 176 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Mr. Burke. My Lords, I have to say to this, that
I believe you have heard these facts made matter of
charge by the House of Commons, that I conceive
they hlave been admitted by the prisoner, and that
tile Commons have nothing to do with the proofs of
anythilng in their charge which is fullly and in terms
admitted. The proofs which they have produced to
your Lordships were upon matters which were contested; but here the facts are admitted in the fullest
mannler. We neither have abandoned them, intended to abandon them, or ever shall abandon them;
we have made them, as a charge, upon record; the
answers to them have been recorded, which answers
are complete admissions of every fact in the charge.
Lord Chancellor. I do not make myself understood. The objection is not that there has not been
evidence given upon the 17th article, but at the
close of the case on the part of the Managers for the
House of Commons no mention having been made
of the matter contained in the 17th article, that
therefore, although it may all have been admitted
by the answer to be true, yet in justice, if from that
answer you ground the charge, it is necessary the
defendant should be heard upon it.
iMr. Burke. If your Lordships choose that the
defendant shall be heard upon it, we hlave no kind
of objection, nor ever had, or proposed an objection
to the defendant being heard upon it. Your Lordships know that the defendant's counsel value themselves upon having abandoned their defence against certain parts of the charge; your Lordships know
that they declared that they broke off thus in the
middle of their defence in order to expedite this
business.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 177
Lord Chancellor. Referring to the proceedings, I
think it a matter perfectly clear, that, in the course
of the charge, after certain articles had been gone
through, the Managers for the Commons closed the
case there, leaving therefore all the other articles,
excepting those that had been discussed, as matters
standing with the answers against them, but not insisted upon in making out the charge. Of course, therefore, if the defendant had gone into any of those
articles, the defendant must have been stopped upon
them, because he would then have been making a
case in defence to that which had not been made
a case in the prosecution. The objection, therefore,
is not at all that no evidence has been examined.
To be sure, it would be an answer to that to say,
you are now proceeding upon an admission; but even
upon those facts that are admitted, (if the facts are
admitted that are insisted upon as matter in charge,)
that should come in the original state of the cause,
and the defendant in common justice must be heard
upon that, and then, and then only, come the observations in reply.
Mr. Burke. We do not know, nor are informed,
that any charge, information, or indictment, that is
before the court, and upon record, and is not denied
by the defendant, does not stand in full force against
him. We conceive it to be so; we conceive it to
be agreeable to the analogy of all proceedings; and
the reason why we did not go into and insist upon
it was, that, having a very long cause before us,
and having the most full and complete admission
upon this subject, we did not proceed further in
it. The defendant defends himself by averring that
VOL. XII. 12
? ? ? ? 178 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
it was not his duty. It was not our business to prove
that it was his duty. It was he that admitted the
facts assumed to be the foundation of his duty; the
negative he was bound to prove, and he never offered to prove it. All that I can say upon this point
is, that his delinquency in the matter in question
appeared to us to be a clear, distinct case, - to be a
great offence, - an offence charged upon the record,
admitted upon the record, and never by us abandoned. As to his defence having been abandoned,
we refer your Lordships to the last petition laid by
him upon your table, (that libellous petition, which
we speak of as a libel upon the House of Commons,)
and which has no validity but as it asserts a matter
of fact from the petitioner; and there you will find
that he has declared explicitly, that, for the accommodation and ease of this business, and for its expedition, he did abandon his defence at a certain period. Lord Chancellor. A charge consisting of a variety
of articles in their nature (however connected with
each other in their subject, but in their nature) distinct and specific, if only certain articles are pressed
in the charge, to those articles only can a defence
be applied; and all the other articles, that are not
made matter of charge originally, have never, in the
course of any proceeding whatever, been taken up
originally in reply.
Mr. Burke. With great respect to your Lordship's judgment, we conceive that the objection taken
from our not having at a certain period argued or
observed upon the prisoner's answer to the articles
not insisted upon is not conclusive; inasmuch as the
record still stands, and as our charge still stands.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 179
It was never abandoned; and the defendant might
have made a justification to it, if he had thought
fit: he never did think fit so to do. If your Lordships think that we ought not to argue upon it
here in our reply, because we did not argue upon
it before, - well and good; but we have argued and
do argue in our reply many things to which he never
gave any answer at all. I shall beg leave, if your
Lordships please, to retire with my fellow Managers
for a moment, to consult whether we shall press this
point or not. We shall not detain your Lordships
many minutes.
(The Managers withdrew: in a few minutes the Managers returned again into the Hall. )
Mr. Burke. My Lords, the Managers have consulted among themselves upon this business; they
first referred to your printed proceedings, in order
to see the particular circumstance on which the observation of your Lordship is founded; we find it
thus stated: --" Then the Managers for the Commons informed the Lords, that, saving to themselves their undoubted rights and privileges, the Cominmons
were content to rest their charge here. " We rested
our charge there, not because we meant to efface any
precedent matter of the charge which had been made
by us, and of which the facts had been admitted by
the defendant, but, simply saving our rights and privileges, that is, to resume, (and to make new matter, if we thought fit,) the Commons were content to rest
the charge there.
I have further to remark to your Lordships, that
the counsel for the defendant have opened a vast
variety of matter that is not upon record, either
? ? ? ? 180 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
on our part or on theirs, in order to illustrate and
to support their cause; and they have spoken day
after day upon the principles on which their defence
was made. My great object now is an examination
of those principles, and to illustrate the effects of
these principles by examples which are not the less
cogent, the less weighty, and the less known, because they are articles in this charge. Most assuredly they are not. If your Lordships recollect
the speeches that were made here, you know that
great merit was given to Mr. Hastings for matters
that were not at all in the charge, and which would
put us under the greatest difficulties, if we were to
take no notice of them in our reply. For instance,
his merits in the Mahratta war, and a great mass of
matter upon that subject, were obliquely, and for
other purposes, brought before you, upon which they
argued. That immense mass of matter, containing
an immense mass of principles, and which was sometimes supported by alleged facts, sometimes by none,
they have opened and argued upon, as matter relative to principle. In answer to their argument, we
propose to show the mischiefs that have happened
from the mischievous principles laid down by Mr.
Hastings, and the mischievous consequences of them.
If, however, after this explanation, your Lordships
are of opinion that we ought not to be allowed to
take this course, wishing to fall in with your Lordships' sentiments, we shall abandon it. But we will
remind your Lordships that such things stand upon
your records; that they stand unanswered and admitted on your records; and consequently they cannot be destroyed by any act of ours, but by a renunciation of the charge, which renunciation we cannot
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 181
make, because the defendant has clearly and fully
admitted it to be founded in fact. We cannot plead
error; we cannot retract it. And why? Because
he has admitted it. We therefore only remind your
Lordships that the charge stands uncontradicted;
and that the observation we intended to make upon
it was to show your Lordships that the principles
upon which he defends all such conduct are totally
false and groundless. But though your Lordships
should be of opinion that we cannot press it, yet we
cannot abandon it; it is not in your power, it is not
in our power, it is not in his power to abandon that
charge. You cannot acquit him of that charge; it
is impossible. If, however, your Lordships, for the
accommodation of business, method of proceedings,
or any circumstance of that kind, wish we should say
no more upon the subject, we close the subject there.
Your Lordships are in possession both of the charge
and the admission; and we wish, and we cannot wish
better than, to leave it as it is upon the record.
The Lord Chancellor here said, -- The opinion of
the Lords can only be with me matter of conjecture.
I certainly was not commanded by the House to state
the observation that had occurred to me; but in the
position in which it now stands, I feel no difficulty
ill saying, as my own judgment, that nothing call be
matter in reply that does not relate to those articles
that were pressed in the original charge; and therefore, in this position of the business of reply, you cannot go into new matter arising out of other articles that were not originally insisted upon.
Mr. Burke. We were aware of the objection that
might be made to admitting our observations, if con
? ? ? ? 182 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
sidered as observations upon the 17th article, but not
when considered with reference to facts on the record
before you, for the purpose of disproving the principles upon which the defendant and his counsel had relied: that was the purpose for which we proposed
chiefly to make them. But your Lordship's [the
Lord Chancellor's] own personal authority will have
great weight with us, and, unless we perceive some
other peer differ from you, we will take it in the
course we have constantly done. We never have sent
your Lordships out of the hall to consent [consult? ]
upon a matter upon which that noble lord appeared
to have formed a decision in his own mind; we take
for granted that what is delivered from the woolsack,
to which no peer expresses a dissent, is the sense of
the House; as such we take it, and as such we submit to it in this instance.
Therefore, leaving this upon the record as it stands,
without observing upon it, and submitting to your
Lordships' decision, that we cannot, according to order, observe in reply upon what was not declared by us to be a part of the charges we meant to insist
upon, we proceed to another business. ]
We have already stated to your Lordships, and we
beg to remind you of it, the state and condition of
the country of Oude when Mr. Hastings first came
to it, - his subsequent and immediate usurpation of
all the powers of government, and the use he made
of them, - the tyranny he exercised over the Nabob
himself, - the tyranny he exercised upon his mother
and grandmother, and all the other females of his
family, and their dependants of every description, to
the number of about eight hundred persons, - the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DA i. 183
tyranny exercised (though we are not at liberty to
press it now) upon his brethren. We have shown
you how he confiscated the property of all the jaghiredars, the nobility of the country. We have proved to your Lordships that he was well acquainted with all
the misery and distress occasioned by these proceedings, and that he afforded the sufferers no relief. We now proceed to review the effect of this general mass
of usurpation, tyranny, and oppression upon the revenues and the prosperity of the country.
Your Lordships will first be pleased to advert to
the state in which Mr. Hastings found the country,in what state he found its revenues, -- who were the executive ministers of the government, -what their
conduct was, and by whom they were recommended
and supported. For the evidence of these facts we
refer your Lordships to your printed Minutes: there,
my Lords, they stand recorded: they never can be
expunged out of your record, and the memory of
mankind, whether we be permitted to press them at
this time upon your Lordships or not. Your Lordships will there find in what manner the government
was carried on in Oude in 1775, before the period
of Mr. Hastings's usurpation. Mr. Hastings, you will
find, has himself there stated that the minister was
recommended by the BIegums; and you will remark
this, because Mr. Hastings afterwards mnakes her interference in the government of her son a part of
his crimination of the Begum.
The Resident at the court of Oude thus writes on
the 2d of March, 1775.
"Notwithstanding the confidence the Nabob re
poses in Murtezza Khaln, the Begums are much dis
? ? ? ? 184 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
satisfied with his elevation. They recommended to his
Excellency to encourage the old servants of the government, whose influence in the country, and experience, lnight have strengthened his own authority, and seated him firmly on the musnud. In some measure
this, too, may appear consistent with the interests of
the Company; for, as Elija Khaan and the old ministers
have by frequent instances within their own knowledge experienced the power of our government, such
men, I should conceive, are much more likely to pay
deference to the Company than a person who at
present can have but a very imperfect idea of the
degree of attention which ought to be paid to our
connection with the Nabob. "
Your Lordships see that the Begums recommended
the old servants, contrary to the maxims of Rehoboam,
-those who had served his father and had served the
country, and who were strongly inclined to support
the English interest there. Your Lordships will remark the effects of the Begum's influence upon the
state of things in 1775, that the Nabob had been
advised by his mother to employ the confidential
servants of his father, -- persons conversant in the
affairs of the country, persons interested in it, and
persons who were well disposed to support the English
connection. Your Lordships will now attend to a
letter from Mr. Bristow, at Lucknow, to the board,
dated 28th November, 1775.
"I also neglected no part of my duty on the spot,
but advised the minister, even at Lucknow, according to my letter of the 3d instant, to recommend it to
the Nabob to dismiss his useless and mutinous troops,
which measure seems by present appearances to have
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 185
succeeded beyond expectation: as the rest of the army do now pay the greatest attention to his Excellency's orders; already the complaints of the violences the troops used to commit are greatly decreased; they profess obedience; and, by the best intelligence I can obtain of their disposition, there seems to be little doubt that the example made by
disbanding Bussunt's corps has every good effect
we could wish, which had crossed the river and voluntarily surrendered their arms the day before yesterday to the Nabob. "
His next letter is dated 13th June, 1776.
"HONORABLE SIR AND SIRS, -It is Elija Khan's
first object to regulate the Vizier's revenue; and I
must do him the justice to say, that the short time
he has been in office he has been indefatigable, and
already settled the greater part of the province of
Oude, and fixed on the districts for the assignments
of the army subsidy; Corah and Allahabad he has
disposed of, and called for the Dooab and Rohilcund
accounts, in order to adjust them as soon as possible.
This activity will, I hope, produce the most salutary
effects, -- as, the present juncture being the commencement of the season for the cultivation, the aumils, by being thus early placed in their offices, have
the opportunity of advancing tukavy, encouraging the
ryots, and making their agreements in their several
districts, in letting under-farms, or disposing of the
lands in such a manner as they may judge most
expedient. If, thouglh similar to the late minister's
conduct, a delay of two or three months should occur
in the settlement of the lands, the people throughout
the country would be dislheartened, and inevitably a
? ? ? ? 186 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
very heavy balance accrue on the- revenue. I have
troubled the honorable board with this detail, in the
first place, to show the propriety of Elija Khan's
conduct, and, in the next, the essential service that
will be rendered to the Vizier by continuing Colonel
Parker's detachment during the whole rains in Corah,
if required by the Vizier. "
My Lords, you have now had a view of the state
of Oude, previous to the first period of our connection with it. Your Lordships have seen and understand that part of the middle period, with which we do not mean to trouble you again. You will now be
pleased to attend to a letter from Fyzoola Khan to
the Governor-General, received the 13th of February,
1778.
" This country of Cuttah, which formerly depended on the Rohilla States, and which I consider as
now appertaining to the Company, was very populous and flourishing; but since the commencement
of the Nabob Vizier's government, the farmers appointed by his ministers have desolated the country.
Its situation is at present very ruinous; thousands
of villages, formerly populous, are now utterly deserted, and no trace left of them. I have already
written to Roy Buckstowr Sing a full account of the
tyranny and oppression exercised by the farmers, to
be communicated to you: the constant revenue of a
country depends on the care of its rulers to preserve
it in a flourishing state. I have been induced to
make the representation by my attachment to the
interest of the Company; for otherwise it is no concern of mine. Should these oppressions continue
one or two years longer, and the rulers take no
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 187
measures to put a stop to them, the whole country
will be a desert. "
My Lords, upon these statements I have only to
make this remark, - that you have seen the first state
of this country, and that the period when it had
fallen into the state last described was about two
years after Mr. Hastings had obtained the majority
in the Council and began to govern this country by
his lieutenants. We know that the country was put
by him under military collectors: you see the consequences. The person who makes this representation to Mr. Hastings of the state of the country, of its distress and calamity, and of the desolation of a
thousand of the villages formerly flourishing in it, is
no less a person than a prince of a neighboring country, a person of whom you have often heard, and to
whom the cause of humanity is much indebted,
namely, Fyzoola Khan,- a prince whose country
the English Resident, travelling through, declares to
be cultivated like a garden. That this was the state
of the Rohilla country is owing to its having very
fortunately been one of those that escaped the dominion of Mr. Hastings.
We will now read to your Lordships a letter from
Sir Eyre Coote to the board at Calcutta, dated the
11th of September, 1779.
"HONORABLE SIR AND SIRS, - The day before yesterday I encamped near Allahabad, where the Vizier
did me the honor of a visit; and yesterday morning,
in my way hither, I returned it, and was received by
his Excellency with every mark of respect and distinction. This morning he called here, an I we had
some general conversation, which principally turned
? ? ? ? 188 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
upon the subject of his attachment to the English,
and his readiness to show the sincerity of it upon all
occasions. It is to be wished we had employed the
influence which such favorable sentiments must have
given us more to the benefit of the country and ourselves; but I fear the distresses which evidently appear on the face of the one, and the failure of the revenues to the other, are not to be wholly ascribed
to the Vizier's mismanagement. "
This is the testimony of Mr. Hastings's own pensioner, Sir Eyre Coote, respecting the known state of
the country during the time of this horrible usurpation, which Sir Eyre Coote mentions under the soft
name of our influence. But there could be but one
voice upon the subject, and that your Lordships shall
now hear from Mr. Hastings himself. We refer
your Lordships to the Minute of the Governor-General's Consultation, Fort William, 21st May, 1781:
he is here giving his reasons for going into the upper
provinces.
" The province of Oude having fallen into a state
of great disorder and confusion, its resources being
in an extraordinary degree diminished, and the Nabob Asoph ul Dowlah having earnestly entreated the
presence of the Governor-General, and declared, that,
unless some effectual measures are taken for his
relief, he must be under the necessity of leaving his
country, and coming down to Calcutta, to present his
situation to this government, -- the Governor-General
therefore proposes, with the concurrence of Mr. Wheler, to visit the province of Onde as speedily as the
affairs of the Presidency will admit, in hopes that,
from a minute and personal observation of the cir
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 189
cumstances of that country, the system of management which has been adopted, and the characters and
conduct of the persons employed, he may possibly be
able to concert and establish some plan by which the
province of Oude may in time be restored to its former state of affluence, good order, and prosperity. "
Your Lordships have now the whole chain of the
evidence complete, with regard to the state of the
country, up to the period of Mr. Hastings's journey
into the country. You see that Mr. Hastings himself admits it to have been formerly in a most flourishing, orderly, and prosperous state. Its condition in 1781 he describes to you in words than which no
enemy of his can use stronger, in order to paint the
state in which it then was. In this state he found
it, when he went up in the year 1781; and he left
it, with regard to any substantial regulation that was
executed or could be executed, in the state in which
he found it, --after having increased every one of
those grievances which he pretended to redress, and
taken from it all the little resources that remained
in it.
We now come to a subsequent period, at which
time the state of the country is thus described by Mr.
Bristow, on the 12th December, 1782. ' Despotism is the principle upon which every measure is founded, and the people in the interior parts
of the country are ruled at the discretion of the aumil
or foujdar for the time being. They exercise, within
the limits of their jurisdiction, the powers of life and
death, and decisions in civil and other cases, in the
same extent as the sovereign at the capital. The
forms prescribed by the ancient institutions of the
? ? ? ? 190 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Mogul empire are unattended to, and the will of the
provincial magistrate is the sole law of the people.
The total relaxation of the Vizier's authority, his
inattention and dislike to business, leave the aumils
in possession of this dangerous power, unawed, uncontrolled by any apprehension of retrospection, or the interference of justice. I can hardly quote an
instance, since the Vizier's accession to the musnud,
of an aumil having been punished for oppression,
though the complaints of the people and the state
of the country are notorious proofs of the violences
daily committed: it is even become unsafe for travellers to pass, except in large bodies; murders, thefts, and other enormities shocking to humanity, are committed in open day. "
In another paragraph of the same letter, he says, -
"' Such has been the system of this government,
that the oppressions have generally originated with
the aumils. They have been rarely selected for their
abilities or integrity, but from favor, or the means to
advance a large sum upon being appointed to their
office. The aumil enters upon his trust ruined in
reputation and fortune; and unless he accomplishes
his engagements, which is seldom the case, disgrace
and punishment follow. Though the balance of revenue may be rigorously demanded of him, it has not been usual to institute any inquiry for oppression.
The zemindars, thus left at the mercy of the aumils,
are often driven to rebellion. The weak are obliged
to submit to his exactions, or fly the country; and
the aumil, unable to reduce the more powerful, is
compelled to enter into a disgraceful compromise.
Every zemindar looks to his fort for protection, and
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 191
the country is crowded with them: Almas Ali Khan
asserts there are not less than seven hundred in his
districts. Hence it has become a general custom to
seize the brother, son, or some near relation or dependant of the different zemindars, as hostages for
the security of the revenue: a great aumil will sometimes have three or four hundred of these hostages,
whom he is obliged to confine in places of security. A
few men like Almas Ali Khan and Coja Ain ul Din
have, from their regularity in the performance of pecuniary engagements, rendered themselves useful to
the Vizier. A strict scrutiny into his affairs was at
all times irksome to his Excellency, and none of the
ministers or officers about his person possessing the
active, persevering spirit requisite to conduct the detail of engagements for a number of small farms,
it became convenient to receive a large sum from
a great farmer without trouble or deficiency. This
system was followed by the most pernicious consequences; these men were above all control, they exacted their own terms, and the districts they farmed were most cruelly oppressed. The revenue of Rohilcund is reduced above a third, and Almas Ali K han's
administration is well known to have been extremely
violent. "
We will next read to your Lordships an extract
from Captain Edwards's evidence.
" Q. Had you any opportunity of observing the
general face of the country in the time of Sujah
Dowlah? --A. I had. -- Q. Did you remark any
difference in the general state of the country at
that time and the period when you made your latter observation? -- did you observe any difference
? ? ? ? 192 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
between the condition of the country at that time,
that of Sujah Dowlah in the year 1774, and the
latter period you have mentioned? -- A. I did,a very material difference. - Q. In what respect? A. In the general aspect that the country bore,
and the cultivation of the country, -- that it was
infinitely better cultivated in 1774 than it was
in 1783. -- Q. You said you had no opportunity
of observing the face of the country till you was
appointed aide-de-camp to the Nabob? --A. No,
except by marching and countermarching. I marched
in the year 1774 through the Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah's provinces into Rohilcund. - Q. Had you those
opportunities from the time of your going there in
1774? -A. I had; but not so much as I had after
being appointed aide-de-camp to the Vizier, because
I was always before in a subordinate situation: I
marched in a direct line before, with the troops;
but afterwards, when I was aide-de-camp to his Excellency, I was my own master, and made frequent
excursions into the different parts of the country. Q. Had you an opportunity of observing the difference in the general happiness and disposition of the people? -A. I had. - Q. Did you observe a
difference in that respect also between your first
coming and the year 1783? -- A. Yes, a very sensible difference: in Sujah ul Dowlah's time the country was in a very flourishing state, in merchandise, cultivation, and every article of commerce, and the
people then seemed to be very happy under his government, which latterly was not the case; because
the country in reality appeared in the year 1774 in
a flourishing state, and in the year 1783 it appeared
comparatively forlorn and desolate. -- Q. Was the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 193
court of Asoph ul Dowlah, when you left India, equal
in point of splendor to what it was in the time of
Sujah ul Dowlah? --A. By no means: it was not
equally splendid, but far inferior. - Q. Were the
dependants and officers belonging to the court paid
in the same punctual manner? --A. No: I really
cannot say whether they were paid more regularly
in Sujall Dowlah's time, only they appeared more
wealthy and more able to live in a splendid style in
his time than they ever have done since his death. "
Here, then, your Lordships see the state of the
country in 1783. Your Lordships may trace the
whole progress of these evils, step by step, from the
death of Sujah ul Dowlah to the time of Mr. Hastings's obtaining a majority in the Council, after
which he possessed the sole and uncontrolled management of the country; you have seen also the
consequences that immediately followed till the year
1784, when he went up a second time into the
country.
I do not know, my Lords, that it is necessary to
make any observation upon this state of things. You
see that the native authority was, as we have proved,
utterly extinguished by Mr. Hastings, and that there
was no superintendent power but his. You have
heard of the oppressions of the farmers of the revenules; and we have shown you that these farmers
generally were English officers. We hlave shown you
in what manner Colonel Hannay, one of these farmers sent by Mr. Hastings, acted, and particularly the
accumulation of hostages which were made by him.
We have shown you, that by their arbitrary and tyrannical proceedings all regular government was subVOL. XIu. 13
? ? ? ? 194 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
verted, and that the country experienced the last and
most dreadful effects of anarchy. We have shown
you that no other security was left to any human being, but to intrench themselves in such forts as they could make, and that these forts, in one district only of the country, had increased in number to the amount of seven hundred. Your Lordships also
know, that, when the prisons and mud forts in which
Colonel IHannay kept his hostages confined were full,
he kept them in uncovered cages in the open air.
You know that all these farmers of revenue were
either English and military men, or natives under an
abject submission to them; you know that they had
the whole country in assignments, that the jaghlires
were all confiscated for their benefits; and you find
that the whole system had its origin at the time
when Mr. Hastings alone formed in effect the authority of the Supreme Council. The weakness of the Nabob, as Sir Eyre Coote tells you, could not have
been alone the cause of these evils, and that our influence over him, if not actually the cause of the utter ruin, desolation, and anarchy of that country, might
have been successfully exerted in preventing.
When your Lordships slhall proceed to judgment
upon these accumulated wrongs, arising out of the
usurped power of the prisoner at your bar, and redressed by him in no one instance whatever, let not
the usurpation itself of the Nabob's power be considered as a trivial matter. When any prince at the
head of a great country is entirely stripped of everything in his government, civil or military, by which
his rank may be distinguished or his virtues exercised, lie is in danger of becoming a mere animal,
and of abandoning himself wholly to sensual grati
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -SEVENTH DAY. 195
fications. Feeling no personal interest in the institutions or in the general welfare of the country, he
suffers the former (and many wise and laudable institutions existed in the provinces of the Nabob, for
their good order and government) to fall into disuse,
and lie leaves the country itself to persons in inferior
situations, to be wasted and destroyed by them. You
find that in Oude, the very appearance of justice had
been banished out of it, and that every aumil exercised an arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes
of the people. My Lords, we have the proofs of all
these facts in our hands; they are in your Lordships'
minutes; and though we can state nothing stronger
than is stated in the papers themselves, yet we do not
so far forget our duty as not to point out to your
Lordships such observations as arise out of them.
To close the whole, your Lordships shall now hear
read an extract from a most curious and extraordinary letter, sent by him to the Court of Directors, preparatory to his return to England.
" My only remaining fear is, that the members of
the Council, seeing affairs through a different medium from that through which I view them, may be
disposed, if not to counteract the system which I
have formed, to withhold from it their countenance
and active support. While I myself remain, it will
be sufficient if they permit it to operate without interruption; and I almost hope, in the event of a new
admlinistration of your affairs which shall confine itself to the same forbearance, and manifest no symptoms of intended interference, the objects of my arrangements will be effectually attained; for I leave them in the charge of agents whose interests, ambi
? ? ? ? 196 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINMS.
tion, and every prospect of life are interwoven with
their success, and the hand of Heaven has visibly
blest the soil with every elementary source of progressive vegetation: but if a different policy shall be
adopted, if new agents are sent into the country and
armed with authority for the purpose of vengeance
or corruption, to no other will they be applied. If
new demands are raised on the Nabob Vizier, and
accounts overcharged on one side with a wide latitude taken on the other to swell his debt beyond the
means of payment, - if political dangers are portended, to ground on them the pleas of burdening his
country with unnecessary defences and enormous subsidies, - or if, even abstaining from direct encroachment on the Nabob's rights, your government shall show but a degree of personal kindness to the partisans of the late usurpation, or by any constructive
indication of partiality and disaffection furnish ground
for the expectation of an approaching change of system, I am sorry to say that all my labors will prove
abortive; for the slightest causes will be sufficient to
deject minds sore with the remembrance of past conflicts, and to elevate those whose only dependence is
placed in the renewal of the confusion which I have
labored with such zeal to eradicate, and will of course
debilitate the authority which can alone insure future success. I almost fear that this denunciation of
effects from causes so incompetent, as they will appear to those who have not had the experience which
I have had of the quick sensibility which influences
the habits of men placed in a state of polity so loose,
and subject to the continual variations of capricious and despotic authority, will be deemed overcharged, or perhaps void of foundation; nor, if they
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 197
should come to pass, will it be easy to trace them
with any positive evidence to their connection: yet
it is my duty to apprise you of what I apprehend,
on grounds which I deem of absolute certainty, may
come to pass; and I rely on your candor for a fair
interpretation of my intention. "
Here, my Lords, the prisoner at your bar has done
exactly what his bitterest accuser would do: he goes
through, head by head, every one of the measures
which he had himself pursued in the destruction of
the country; and he foretells, that, if any one of those
measures should again be pursued, or even if good
cause should be given to suspect they would be renewed, the country must fall into a state of inevitable destruction. This supersedes all observation. This
paper is a recapitulated, minute condemnation of every
step which he took in that country, and which steps
are every one of them upon your Lordships' minutes.
But, my Lords, we know very well the design of
these pretended apprehensions, and why he wished to
have that country left in the state he speaks of. He
had left a secret agent of his own to control that ostensible government, and to enable him, sitting in the place where he now sits, to continue to govern those
provinces in the way in which he now governs them.
[A murimur having arisen here, Mr. Burke proceeded. ]
If I am called upon to reword what I have just
said, I shall repeat my words, and show strong
grounds and reasons to indicate that he governs Oude
now as much as he ever did.
You see, my Lords, that the reform which he pretended to make in 1781 produced the calamities
? ? ? ? 198 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
which he states to have existed in 1784. We shall
now show that the reform which he pretended to
make in 1784 brought on the calamities which Lord
Cornwallis states in his evidence to have existed in
1787.
We will now read two letters from Lord Cornwallis: the first is dated the 16th November, 1787.
" I was received at Allahabad and'attended to
Lucknow by the Nabob and his ministers with every
mark of friendship and respect. I cannot, however,
express how much I was concerned, during my short
residence at his capital, and my progress through his
dominions, to be witness of the disordered state of
his finances and government, and of the desolate appearances of his country. The evils were too alarming to admit of palliation, and I thought it my duty to exhort him, in the most friendly manner, to endeavor to apply effectual remedies to them. He began with urging as apology, that, whilst he was not certain of the expense [extent? ] of our demands upon him, he had no real interest in being economical
in his expenses, and that, while we interfered in the
internal management of his affairs, his own authority
and that of his ministers were despised by his own
subjects. It would have been useless to discuss these
topics with him; but while I repeated my former
declarations of our being determined to give no
ground in future for similar complaints, he gave me
the strongest assurances of his being resolved to apply himself earnestly to the encouragement of agriculture, and to endeavor to revive the commerce of his countrv. "
The second is dated the 25th April, 1788.
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - SEVENTH DAY. 199
" Till I saw the Vizier's troops, I was not without
hope that upon an emergency he would have been
able to have furnished us with some useful cavalry;
but I have no reason to believe that he has any in
his service upon which it would be prudent to place
ally dependence; and I think it right to add, that
his country appears to be in so ruined a state, and
his finances ill so much disorder, that even in case of
war we ought not to depend upon any material support from him. "
My Lords, I have only to remark upon these letters, that, so far as they go, they prove the effects
of Mr. Hastings's reformation, from which he was
pleased to promise the Company such great things.
But when your Lordships know that he had left his
dependant and minister, Hyder Beg Khan, there,
whose character, as your Lordships will find by a
reference to your minutes h'lie has represented as
black as lhell, to be the real governor there, and to
carry on private correspolldence with him hlere, and
that lie had left Major Palmer, hlis private agent, for
a considerable time in that country to carry on hlis
affairs, your Lordsllips will easily see how it has
come to pass that the Vizier, such a manl as you have
heard him described to lbe, was not alone able to
restore prosperity to his country.
My Lords, you hlave now seen what was the situatioin of the country in Sujali Dowlah's tinme, prior to
Mr. Hastings's interferellnce with the government of
it, what it was during his government, and what situation it was in when Lord Corniwallis left it. Notihing now remains but to call your Lordships' attention to perhaps the most extraordillary part of these transactions. But before we proceed, we will beg leave
? ? ? ? 200 IMIPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
to go back and read to your Lordships the Nabob's
letter of the 24th February, 1780.
" I have received your letter, and understand the
contents. I cannot describe the solidity of your
friendship and brotherly affection which subsisted between you and my late father. From the friendship of the Company he received numberless advantages;
and I, notwithstanding I was left an orphan, from
your favor and that of tile Company was perfectly
at ease, being satisfied that everything would be
well, and that I should continue in the same security that I was during my father's lifetime, from your protection. I accordingly, from the day of' lis death,
have never omitted to cultivate your favor, and the
protection of the Company; and whatever was the
desire and directions of the Council at that time I
have ever since conformed to, and obeyed with readiness. Thanks be given to God that I have never as yet been backward in performing the will of the
English Company, of the Council, and of you, and
have always been from my heart ready to obey them,
and have never given you any trouble from my difficulties or wishes. This I have done simply frorm my own knowledge of your favor towards me, and from
my being certain that youl would learn the particulars
of my distresses and difficulties fiom other quarters,
and would then show your friendship and good-will
in whatever was for my advantage. But when the
knife had penetrated to the bone, and I was stlrrounded with such heavy distresses that I could no longer live inl expectations, I then wrote an account
of my difficulties. The answer whicll I have received
to it is such, that it has given inc inlexpressible grief
and affliction. I never llad the least idea or expec
?
