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Middleton to the Superior Council: yet the said Warren
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 319
Hastings, in defiance of the opinion of the Directors,
and the unanimous opinion of the General Court of
the said East India Company, as well as the precedent positive orders of the Court of Directors, and the
injunctions of an act of Parliament, has, from that
time to the present, never made any communication
of the whole of his correspondence to the GovernorGeneral and Council, or to the Court of Directors.
II. - SHAH ALLUM.
THAT, in a solemn treaty of peace, concluded the
16th of August, 1765, between the East India Company and the late Nabob of Oude, Sujah ul Dowlah,
and highly approved of, confirmed, and ratified by
the said Company, it is agreed, "that the King Shah
Allum shall remain in full possession of Corah, and
such part of the province of Allahabad as he now possesses, which are ceded to his Majesty as a royal demesne for the support of his dignity and expenses. " That, in a separate agreement, concluded at the
same time, between the King Shah Allum and the
then Subahdar of Bengal, under the immediate security and guaranty of the English Company, the faith
of the Company was pledged to the said King for the
annual payment of twenty-six lac of rupees for his
support out of the revenues of Bengal; and that the
said Company did then receive from the said King
a grant of the duann6 of the provinces of Bengal,
Bahar, and Orissa, on the express condition of their
being security for the annual payment above mentioned. That the East India Company have held,
and continue to hold, the duann6 so granted, and
? ? ? ? 320 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
for some years have complied with the conditions on
which they accepted of the grant thereof, and have at
all times acknowledged that they held the duann6
in virtue of the Mogul's grants. That the said Court
of Directors, in their letter of the 30th June, 1769, to
Bengal, declared, "that they esteemed themselves
bound by treaty to protect the King's person, and to
secure him the possession of the Corah and Allahabad
districts"; and supposing an agreement should be
made respecting these provinces between the King
and Sujah ul Dowlah, the Directors then said, " that
they should be subject to no further claim or requisition from the King, excepting for the stipulated tribute for Bengal, which they [the Governor and Council] were to pay to his agent, or remit to him in such manner as he might direct. "
That, in the year 1772, the King Shah Allum,
who had hitherto resided at Allahabad, trusting to
engagements which he had entered into with the Mahrattas, quitted that place, and removed to Delhi; but,
having soon quarrelled with those people, and afterwards being taken prisoner, had been treated by
them with very great disrespect and cruelty. That,
among other instances of their abuse of their immediate power over him, the Governor and Council of Bengal, in their letter of the 16th of August,
1773, inform the Court of Directors that he had been
compelled, while a prisoner in their hands, to grant
sunnuds for the surrender of Corah and Allahabad to
them; and it appears from sundry other minutes of
their own that the said Governor and Council did at
all times consider the surrender above mentioned as
extorted from the King, and unquestionably an act of
violence, which could not alienate or impair his right
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 321
to those provinces, and that, when they took possess
sion thereof, it was at the request of the King's Naib,
or viceroy, who put them under the Council's protection. That on this footing they were accepted by the said Warren Hastings and his Council, and for some
time considered by them as a deposit committed to
their care by a prince to whom the possession thereof
was particularly guarantied by the East India Company. In their letter of the 1st of March, 1773, they
(the said Warren Hastings and his Council) say,
"Iln no shape can this compulsatory cession by the
King release us from the obligation we are under to,
defend the provinces which we have so particularly.
guarantied to him. " But it appears that they soonl
adopted other ideas and assumed other principles
concerning this object. In the instructions, dated
the 23d of June, 1773, which the Council of Fort
William gave to the said Warren Hastings, previous
to his interview with the Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah at
Benares, they say, that, " while the King continued
at Delhi, whither he proceeded in opposition to their
most strenuous remonstrances, they should certainly
consider the engagements between him and the Company as dissolved by his alienation from them and their interest; that the possession of so remote a
country could never be expected to yield any profit
to the Company, and the defence of it must require
a perpetual aid of their forces ": yet in the same instructions they declare their opinion, that, "if the
King should make overtures to renew his former connection, his right to reclaim the districts of Corah and Allahabad could not with propriety be disputed," and
they authorize the said Warren Hastings to restore
them to him on condition that he should renounce his
VOL. VIII. 21
? ? ? ? 322 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
claim to the annual tribute of twenty-six lac of rupees,
herein before mentioned, and to the arrears which
might be due, thereby acknowledging the justice of a
claim which they determined not to comply with but
in return for the surrender of another equally valid;
- that, nevertheless, in the treaty concluded by the
said Warren Hastings with Sujah ul Dowlah on the
7th of September, 1773, it is asserted, that his Majesty, (meaning the King Shah Allum,) "having
abandoned the districts of Corah and Allahabad, and
given a sunnud for Corah and Currah to the Mahrattas, had thereby forfeited his right to the said districts," although it was well known to the said Warren Hastings, and had been so stated by him to the Court of Directors, that this surrender on the part
of the King had been extorted from him by violence,
while he was a prisoner in the hands of the Mahrattas, and although it was equally well known to the
said Warren Hastings that there was nothing in the
original treaty of 1765 which could restrain the King
from changing the place of his residence, consequently that his removal to Delhi could not occasion a forfeiture of his right to the provinces secured to him
by that treaty.
That the said Warren Hastings, in the report
which he made of his interview and negotiations
with Sujah ul Dowlah, dated the 4th of October, 1773,
declared, " that the administration would have been
culpable in the highest degree in retaining possession
of Corah and Allahabad for any other purpose than
that of making an advantage by the disposal of them,'. '
and therefore he had ceded them to the Vizier for
fifty lac of rupees: a measure for which he had no
authority whatever from the King Shah Allum, and iAl
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 323
the execution of which no reserve whatever was
made in favor of the rights of that prince, nor any
care taken of his interests.
That the sale of these provinces to Sujah Dowlah
involved the East India Company in a triple breach
of justice; since by the same act they violated a
treaty, they sold the property of another, and they
alienated a deposit committed to their friendship and
good faith, and as such accepted by them. That a
measure of this nature is not to be defended on
motives of policy and convenience, supposing such
motives to have existed, without a total loss of public
honor, and shaking all security in the faith of treaties;
but that in reality the pretences urged by the said
Warren Hastings for selling the King's country to
Sujah Dowlah were false and invalid. It could not
strengthen our alliance with Sujah ul Dowlah; since,
paying a price for a purchase, he received no favor
and incurred no obligation. It did not free the Company from all the dangers attending either a remote
property or a remote connection; since, the moment
the country in question became part of Sujah Dowlah's dominions, it was included in the Company's former guaranty of those dominions, and in case of invasion the Company were obliged to send part of their army to defend it at the requisition of the said Sujah
Dowlah; and if the remote situation of those provinces made the defence of them difficult and dangerous,
much more was it a difficult and dangerous enterprise
to engage the Company's force in an attack and invasion of the Rohillas, whose country lay at a much
greater distance from the Company's frontier, --
which, nevertheless, the said Warren Hastings agreed
to and undertook at the very time when, under pre
? ? ? ? 324 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tence of the difficulty of defending Corah and Allahabad, he sold those provinces to Sujah Dowlah. It did
not relieve the Company from the expense of defending the country; since the revenues thereof far exceeded the subsidy to be paid by Sujah Dowlah, and these revenues justly belonged to the Company as
long as the country continued under their protection,
and would have answered the expense of defending it.
Finally, that the sum of fifty lac of rupees, stipulated with the said Sujah Dowlah, was inadequate to the
value of the country, the annual revenues of which
were stated at twenty-five lac of rupees, which General Sir Robert Barker, then commander-in-chief of
the Company's forces, affirms was certain, and too,generally known to admit of a doubt.
That the King Shah Allum received for some years
the annual tribute of twenty-six lac of rupees above
mentioned, and was entitled to continue to receive it
by virtue of an engagement deliberately, and for an
adequate consideration, entered into with him by the
Company's servants, and approved of and ratified by
the Company themselves; -- that this engagement
was absolute and unconditional, and did neither express nor suppose any case in which the said King
should forfeit or the Company should have a right
to resume the tribute;- that, nevertheless, the said
Warren Hastings and his Council, immediately after
selling the King's country to Sujah Dowlah, resolved
to withhold, and actually withheld, the payment of
the said tribute, of which the King Shah Allum has
never since received any part; -- that this resolution
of the Council is not justified even by themselves on
principles of right and justice, but by arguments of
policy and convenience, by which the best founded
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 325
claims of right and justice may at all times be set
aside and defeated. " They judged it highly impolitic and unsafe to answer the drafts of the King,
until they were satisfied of his amicable intentions,
and those of his new allies. " But neither had they
any reason to question the King's amicable intentions,
nor was he pledged to answer for those of the Mahrattas; his trusting to the good faith of that people,
and relying on their assistance to reinstate him in
the possession of his capital, might have been imprudent and impolitic, but these measures, however ruinous to himself, indicated no enmity to the English, nor were they productive of any effects injurious to
the English interests. And it is plain that the said
Warren Hastings and his Council were perfectly aware
that their motives or pretences for withholding the
tribute were too weak to justify their conduct, having principally insisted on the reduced state of their
treasury, which, as they said, rendered it impracticable to comply with those payments. The right of a
creditor does not depend on the circumstances of the
debtor: on the contrary, the plea of inability includes
a virtual acknowledgment of the debt; since, if the
creditor's right were denied, the plea would be superfluous.
That the East India Company, having on their part
violated the engagements and renounced the conditions on which they received and have hitherto held
and enjoyed the duann6 of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa from the King Shah Allum, have thereby forfeited all right and title to the said duann6 arising from
the said grant, and that it is free and open to the said
King to resume such grant, and to transfer it to any
other prince or state; - that, notwithstanding any dis
? ? ? ? 326 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tress or weakness to which he may be actually reduced, his lawful authority, as sovereign of the Mogul Empire, is still acknowledged in India, and that his grant of the duanne would sufficiently authorize
and materially assist any prince or state that might
attempt to dispossess the East India Company thereof, since it would convey a right which could not be
disputed, and to which nothing but force could be
opposed. Nor can these opinions be more strongly
expressed than they have been lately by the said Warren Hastings himself, who, in a minute recorded the
1st of December, 1784, has declared, that, " fallen as
the House of Timur is, it is yet the relic of the most
illustrious line of the Eastern world; that its sovereignty is universally acknowledged, though the substance of it no longer exists; and that the Company itself derives its constitutional dominion from its ostensible bounty. "
That the said Warren Hastings by this declaration
has renounced and condemned the principle on which
he avowedly acted towards the Mogul in the year
1773, when he denied that the sunnuds or grants of
the Mogul, if they were in the hands of another nation, would avail them anything, - and when he declared " that the sword which gave us the dominion of Bengal must be the instrument of its preservation,
and that, if it should ever cease to be ours, the next
proprietor would derive his right and possession from
the same natural charter. " That the said Warren
Hastings, to answer any immediate purpose, adopts
any principle of policy, however false or dangerous,
without any regard to former declarations made, or
to principles avowed on other occasions by himself;
and particularly, that in his conduct to Shah Allum
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 327
he first maintained that the grants of that prince
were of no avail, -- that we held the dominion of
Bengal by the sword, which he has falsely declared
the source of right, and the natural charter of dominion, - whereas at a later period he has declared that the sovereignty of the family of Shah Allum is universally acknowledged, and that the Company itself derives its constitutional dominion from their ostensible bounty.
III. - BENARES.
PART I.
RIGHTS AND TITLES OF THE RAJAH OF BENARES.
I. THAT the territory of Benares is a fruitful, and
has been, not long since, an orderly, well-cultivated,
and improved province, of great extent; and its capital city, hs Warren Hastings, Esquire, has informed the Court of Directors, in his letter of the 21st of
November, 1781, "is highly revered by the natives
of the Hindoo persuasion, so that many who have acquired independent fortunes retire to close their days inl a place so eminently distinguished for its sanctity "; and he further acquaints the Directors, " that
it may rather be considered as the seat of the Hindoo
religion than as the capital of a province. But as its
inhabitants are not composed of Hindoos only, the
former wealth which flowed into it from the offerings
of pilgrinis, as well as from the transactions of exchange, for which its central situation is adapted, has attracted numbers of Mahomedans, who still continue
to reside in it with their families. " And these circumstances of the city of Benares, which not only at
? ? ? ? 328 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tracted the attention of all the different descriptions
of men who inhabit Hindostan, but interested them
warmly in whatever it might suffer, did in a peculiar
manner require that the Governor-General and Council of Calcutta should conduct themselves with regard
to its rulers and inhabitants, when it became dependent on the Company, on the most distinguished principles of good faith, equity, moderation, and mildness. II. That the Rajah Bulwant Sing, late prince or
Zemindar of the province aforesaid, was a great lord
of the Mogul Empire, dependent on the same, through
the Vizier of the Empire, the late Sujah ul Dowlah,
Nabob of Oude; and the said Bulwant Sing, in the
commencement of the English power, did attach himself to the cause of the English Company; and the
Court of Directors of the said Company did acknowledge, in their letter of the 26th of May, 1768, that
" Bulwant Sing's joining us at the time he did was
of signal service, and the stipulation in his favor was
what he was justly entitled to "; and they did commend "the care that had been taken [by the then
Presidency] of those that had shown their attachment
to them [the Company] during the war"; and they
did finally express their hope and expectation in the
words following: " The moderation and attention
paid to those who have espoused our interests in this
war will restore our reputation in Hindostan, and that
the Indian powers will be convinced NO breach of
treaty will ever have our sanction. "
III. That the Rajah Bulwant Sing died on the
23d of August, 1770, and his son, Cheyt Sing, suc
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 329
ceeding to his rights and pretensions, the Presidency
of Calcutta (John Cartier, Esquire, being then President) did instruct Captain Gabriel Harper to procure
a confirmation of the succession to his son Cheyt
Sing, " as it was of the utmost political import to the
Company's affairs; and that the young man ought not
to consider the price to be paid to satisfy the Vizier's
jealousy and avarice. " And they did further declare as follows: " The strong and inviolable attachment which subsisted betwixt the Company and the father makes us most readily interpose our good offices for the son. " And the young Rajah aforesaid
having agreed, under the mediation of Captain Harper, to pay near two hundred thousand pounds as a
gift to the said Vizier, and to increase his tribute by
near thirty thousand pounds annually, a deed of confirmation was passed by the said Vizier to the said
Rajah and his heirs, by which he became a purchaser,
for valuable considerations, of his right and inheritance in the zemindary aforesaid. In consequence of
this grant, so by him, purchased, the Rajah was solemnly invested with the government in the city of
Benares, " amidst the acclamations of a numerous
people, and to the great satisfaction of all parties. "
And the said Harper, in his letter of the 8th October,
1770, giving an account of the investiture aforesaid,
did express himself in these words: " I will leave the
young Rajah and others to acquaint you how I have
conducted myself; only thus much let me say, that
I have kept a strict eye not to diminish our national honor, disinterestedness, and justice, which I will
conclude has had a greater effect in securing to the
Company their vast possessions than even the force
of arms, however formidable, could do. " The Pres
? ? ? ? 330 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ident of Calcutta testified his approbation of the
said Harper's conduct in the strongest terms, that
is, in the following: " Your disinterestedness has
been equally distinguishable as your abilities, and
both do you the greatest honor. "
IV. That the agreement between the Rajah and
Nabob aforesaid continued on both sides without any
violation, under the sanction and guaranty of the
East India Company, for three years, when Warren
Hastings, Esquire, being then President, did propose
a further confirmation of the said grant, and did, on
the 12th of October, 1773, obtain a delegation for
himself to be the person to negotiate the same: it
being his opinion, as expressed in his report of Octo-.
ber 4th, 1773, that the Rajah was not only entitled
to the inheritance of his zemindary by the grants
through Captain Harper, but that the preceding
treaty of Allahabad, though literally expressing no
more than a security personal to Bulwant Sing, did,
notwithstanding, in the true sense and import thereof, extend to his posterity; " and that it had been differently understood " (that is, not literally) " by
the Company, and by this administration; and the
Vizier had before put it out of all dispute by the solemn act passed in the Rajah's favor on his succession to the zemindary. "
V. That the Council, in their instructions to the
said Governor Hastings, did empower him " to renew,
in behalf of the Rajah Cheyt Sing, the stipulation
which was formerly made with the Vizier in consideration of his services in 1764 "; and the government was accordingly settled on the Rajah and his poster
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 331
ity, or to his heirs, on the same footing on which it
was granted to his said father, excepting the addition
aforesaid to the tribute, with an express provision
" that no increase shall ever hereafter be demanded. "
And the grant and stipulation aforesaid was further
confirmed by the said Sujah ul Dowlah, under the
Company's guaranty, by the most solemn and awful
form of oath known in the Mahomed}n religion, inserted in the body of the deed or grant; and the said Warren Hastings, strongly impressed with the opinion of the propriety of protecting the Rajah, and of
the injustice, malice, and avarice of the said Sujah
Dowlah, and the known family enmity subsisting between him and the Rajah, did declare, in his report
to the Council, as follows: " I am well convinced that
the Rajah's inheritance, and perhaps his life, are no
longer safe than while he enjoys the Company's protection, which is his due by the ties of justice and the obligations of public faith. "
VI. That some time after the new confirmation
aforesaid, that is to say, in the year 1774, the Governor-General and Council, which had been formed and the members thereof appointed by act of Parliament, did obtain the assignment of the sovereignty paramount of the said government by treaty with the
Nabob of Oude, by which, although the supreme dominion was changed, the terms and the conditions of the tenure of the Rajah of Benares remained; as the
said Nabob of Oude could transfer to the East India
Company no other or greater estate than he himself
possessed in or over the said zemindary. But to obviate any misconstruction on the subject, the said Warren Hastings did propose to the board, that, what
? ? ? ? 332 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ever provision might in the said treaty be made
for the interest of the Company, the same should be
"without an encroachment on the just rights of the
Rajah, or the engagements actually subsisting with him. "
VII. That the said Warren Hastings, then having,
or pretending to have, aln extraordinary care of the
interest of the Rajah of Benares, did, on his transfer
of the sovereignty, propose a new grant, to be conveyed in new instruments to the said Rajah, conferring upon him further privileges, namely, the addition of the sovereign rights of the mint, and of the right
of criminal justice of life and death. And he, the said
Warren Hastings, as Governor-General, did himself
propose the resolution for that purpose in Council,
in the following words, with remarks explanatory of
the principles upon which the grants aforesaid were
made, namely:MINUTE.
VIII. " That the perpetual and independent possession of the zemindary of Benares and its dependencies be confirmed and guarantied to the Rajah
Cheyt Sing and his heirs forever, subject only to
the annual payment of the revenues hitherto paid to
the late Vizier, amounting to Benares Sicca Rupees
23,71,656. 12, to be disposed of as is expressed in the
following article: That no other demand be made on
him either by the Nabob of Oude or this government;
nor any icind of authority or jurisdiction be exercised by
either within the districts assigned him. " To which
minute he, the said Warren Hastings, did subjoin the
following observation in writing, and recorded therewith in the Council books, that is to say: " The Ra
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 333
jah of Benares, from the situation of his country, which
is a frontier to the provinces of Oude and Bahar, may
be made a serviceable ally to the Company, whenever
their affairs shall require it. He has always been considered in this light both by the Company and the successive members of the late Council; but to insure his attachment to the Company, his interest must be connected with it, which cannot be better effected than by freeing
him totally from the REZMAINS of his present vassalage under the guaranty and protection of the Company,
and at the same time guarding him against any apprehensions from this government, by thus pledging its faith
that no encroachment shall ever be made on his rights
by the Company. " And the said Warren Hastings,
on the 5th of July, 1775, did himself propose, among
other articles of the treaty relative to this object, one
of the following tenor: " That, whilst the Rajah shall
continue faithful to these engagements and punctual
in his payments, and shall pay due obedience to the
authority of this government, no more demands shall
be made upon him by the Honorable Company of
ANY KIND, or, on any pretence whatsoever, shall
any person be allowed to interfere with his authority,
or to disturb the peace of his country. " And the
said article was by the other members of the Council
assented to without debate.
IX. On transferring the Rajah's tribute from the
Nabob to the Company, the stipulation with the Nabob was renewed on the proposition of the said Warren Hastings himself, and expressed in a yet more distinct manner, namely: 1" That no more demands
shall be made upon him by the Honorable Company
of any kind. " And the said Warren Hastings, in
? ? ? ? 334 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
justification of his proposal of giving the Rajah "a
complete and uncontrolled authority over his zemindary," did enter on the Council book the following reasons for investing him with the same, strongly
indicating the situation in which he must be left
under ally other circumstances, whether under the
Nabob of Oude, or under the English, or under the
double influence of both: "That the security of his
person and possessions from the Company's protection
may be rated equal to many lacs of rupees, which,
though saved to him, are no loss to the government on
which he depends, being all articles of invisible expense:
in fees to the ministers and officers of the Nabob; in
the charges of a double establishment of vackeels to
both governments; in presents and charges of accommodation to the Nabob, during his residence at any place within the boundaries of his zemindary; in the
frauds, embezzlements, and oppressions exercised in the
mint and cutwally; besides the allowed profits of those
officers, and the advantages which every man in occasional power, or in the credit of it, might make of the Rajah's known weakness, and the dread he stood in
both of the displeasure of the Nabob and the ill-will
of individuals among the -English, who were all considered, either in their present stations or connections, or the right of succession, as members of the state of Bengal. It would be scarce possible to enumerate all the inconveniences to which the Rajah was liable in his
former situation, or to estimate the precise effect which
they produced on his revenue and on the gross
amount of his expense; but it may be easily conceived that both were enormous, and of a nature the
most likely to lessen the profits of government, instead
of adding to them. " And in justification of his pro
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 335
posal of giving the Rajah the symbols of sovereignty
in the power of life and death, and in the coining of
money, as pledges of his independence, he states the
deplorable situation of princes reduced to dependence
on the Vizier or the Company, and obliged to entertain an English Resident at their court, ill the following words: " It is proposed to receive the payment
of his [the Rajah's] rents at Patna, because that is
the nearest provincial station, and because it would
not frustrate the intention of rendering the Rajah independent. If a Resident was appointed to receive the
money, as it became due, at Benares, such a Resident
would unavoidably acquire an influence over the Rajah, and over his country, which would in effect render
him the master of both. This consequence might not
perhaps be brought completely to pass without a struggle and many appeals to the Council, which, in a government constituted like this, cannot fail to terminate against the Rajah, and, by the construction to which his
opposition to the agent would be liable, might eventually
draw on him severe restrictions, and end in reducing him
to the mean and depravedstate of a mere zenmindar. "
X. That, in order to satisfy the said Rajah of the
intentions of the Company towards him, and of the
true sense and construction of the grants to him, the
said Rajah, to be made, the Governor-General (he,
the said Warren Hastings) and Council did, on the
24th August, 1775, instruct Mr. Fowke, the Resident
at the Rajah's court, in the following words: "' It is
proper to assure the Rajah, we do not mean to increase his tribute, but to require from him an exact
sum; that, under the sovereignty of the Company,
we are determined to leave him the free and uncon
? ? ? ? 336 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
trolled management of the internal government of his
country, and the collection and regulation of the revenues, so long as lie adheres to the terms of his engagement; and will never demand any augmentation
of the annual tribute which may be fixed. "
XI. That the said Warren Hastings and the Council-General, not being satisfied with having instructed
the Resident to make the representation aforesaid, to
remove all suspicion that by the new grants any attempt should insidiously be made to change his former tenure, did resolve that a letter should be written by the Governor-General himself to the Rajah of Benares, to be delivered to Mr. Fowke, the Resident,
together with his credentials; in which letter they
declare " the board willing to continue the grant of
the zemindary to him in as full and ample a manner
as he possessed it from former sovereigns; and on his
paying the annual tribute," &c;- and in explaining
the reasons for granting to him the mint and criminal
justice, they inform him that this is done in order " that
he may possess an uncontrolled and free authority in
the regulation and government of his zemindary.
XII. That on the 26th February, 1776, the Board
and Council did order that the proper instruments
should be prepared for conveying to the Rajah aforesaid the government and criminal justice and mint of
Benares, with its dependenlcies, " ill the usual form,
expressing the conditions already resolved on in the
several proceedings of the board. " And on the same
day a letter was written to the Resident at Benares,
signifying that they had ordered the proper instruments to be prepared, specifying the terms concerning
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 337
the remittance of the Rajah's tribute to Calcutta, as
well as " the several other conditions which had been already agreed to,-and that they should forward it to him, to be delivered to the Rajah. " And on the 20th
of March following, the board did again explain the
terms of the said tribute, in a letter to the Court of
Directors, and did add, " that a sunnud [grant or
patent] for his [Cheyt Sing's] zemindary should be
furnished him on these and the conditions before agreed
on. "
XIII. That during the course of the transactions,
aforesaid in Council, and the various assurances givein
to the Rajah and the Court of Directors, certain im --
proper and fraudulent practices were used with regard
to the symbols of investiture which ought to have
been given, and the form of the deeds by which the
said zemindary ought to have been granted. For it
appears that the original deeds were signed by the
board on the 4th September, 1775, and transmitted to
Mr. Fowke, the Resident at the Rajah's court, and
that on the 20th of November following the Court of
Directors were acquainted by the said Warren Hastings and the Council theat Rajah Cheyt Sing had been invested with the sunnud (charters or patents) for his
zemindary, and the kellaut, (or robes of investiture,)
in all the proper forms; but on the 1st of October,
1775, the Rajah did complain to the Governor-General and Council, that the kellaut, (or robes,) with which he was to be invested according to their order,'" is not
of the same kind as that which he received fiom the
late Vizier on the like occasion. -' In'consequence
of the said complaint, the board did, in their letter to
the Resident of the 11th of the same month, desire.
VOL. VIII. 22
? ? ? ? 338 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
him "' to make inquiry respecting the nature of the
kellaut, and invest him with one of the same sort, on
the part of this government, instead of that which
they formerly described to him. " And it appears
highly probable that the instruments which accompanied the said robes of investiture were made in a manner conformable to the orders and directions of
the board, and the conditions by them agreed to; as
the Rajah, who complained of the insufficiency of the
robes, did make no complaint of the inlsufficiency of
the instrumelnts, or of any deviation in them from
those he had formerly received from the Vizier.
But a copy or duplicate of the said deeds or instruments were in some manner surreptitiously disposed of, and withheld from the records of the Company, and
never were transmitted to the Court of Directors.
XIV. That several months after the said settlement and investiture, namely, on the 15th of April,
1776, the Secretary illformed the Court that iie had
prepared a sunnud, cabbolut, and pottah (that is, a
patent, an agreement, and a rent-roll) for Cheyt Sing's
zemindary, and the board ordered the same to be executed; but the Resident, on receiving the same, did transmit the several objections made by the Rajah
thereto, and particularly to a clause in the patent,
made in direct contradiction to the engagements of
the Council so solemnly and repeatedly given, by
which clause the former patents are declared to be
null. That, on the representation aforesaid, on tile
29th July, the Secretary was ordered to prepare new
and proper instruments, omitting the clause declaring the former patents to be null, and the said new patents were delivered to the Rajah; and the others,
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 339
which he objected to, as well as those which had been
delivered to him originally, were returned to the
Presidency. But neither the first set of deeds, not
the fraudulent patent aforesaid, nor the new instruments made out on the complaint of the Rajah, omitting the exceptionable words, have been inserted in the records, although it was the particular duty of
the said Warren Hastings that all transactions with
the country powers should be faithfully entered, as
well as to take care that all instruments transmitted
to them on the faith of the Company should be honestly, candidly, and fairly executed, according to the
true intent and meaning of the engagements entered
into on the part of the Company, -- giving by the
said complicated, artificial, and fraudulent management, as well as by his said omitting to record the
said material document, strong reason to presume
that he did even then meditate to make some evil use
of the deeds which he thus withheld from the Company, and which he did afterwards in reality make,
when he found means and opportunity to effect his
evil purpose.
PART II.
DESIGNS OF MR. HASTINGS TO RUIN THE RAJAH OF BENARES.
I. THAT the tribute transferred to the Company by
the treaty with the Nabob of Oude, being 250,0001.
a
year sterling, and upwards, without any deductions
whatsoever, was paid monthly, with such punctual
exactness as had no parallel in the Company's dealingS with any of the native princes or with any subject zemindar, being the only one who never was in arrears; and according to all appearance, a perfect
? ? ? ? 340 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
harmony did prevail between the Supreme Council at
Calcutta and the Rajah. But though the Rajah of
Benares furnished no occasion of displeasure to the
board, yet it since appears that the said Warren Hastings did, at some time in the year 1777, conceive displeasure against him. In that year, he, the said Warren Hastings, retracted his own act of resignation
of his office, made to the Court of Directors through
his agent, Mr. Macleane, and, calling in the aid of the
military to support him in his authority, brought the
divisions of the government, according to his own
expression, "to an extremity bordering on civil violence. " This extremity he attributes, in a narrative
by him transmitted to the Court of Directors, and
printed, not to his own fraud and prevarication, but
to what he calls " an attempt to wrest from him his
authority"; and in the said narrative he pretends
that the Rajah of Benares had deputed an agent with
an express commission to his opponent, Sir John
Clavering. This fact, if it had been true, (which is
not proved,) was in no sort criminal or offensive to
the Company's government, but was at first sight
nothing more than a proper mark of duty and respect
to the supposed succession of office. Nor is it possible to conceive in what manner it could offend the
said Hastings, if he did not imagine that the express
commission to which in the said narrative he refers
might relate to the discovery to Sir John Clavering
of some practice which he might wish to conceal, --
the said Clavering, whom he styles " his opponent,"
having been engaged, in obedience to the Company's
express orders, in the discovery of sundry peculations and other evil practices charged upon the said
Hastings. But although, at the time of the said pre
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 341
tended deputation, he dissembled his resentment, it
appears to have rankled in his mind, and that he never forgave it, of whatever nature it might have been (the same never having been by him explained); and
some years after, he recorded it in his justification of
his oppressive conduct towards the Rajah, urging the
same with great virulence and asperity, as a proof or
presumption of his, the said Rajah's, disaffection to
the Company's government; and by his subsequent
acts, he seems from the first to have resolved, when
opportunity should occur, on a severe revenge.
II. That, having obtained, in his casting vote, a
majority in Council on the death of Sir John Clavering and Mr. Monson, he did suddenly, and without
any previous general communication with the members of the board, by a Minute of Consultation of the
9th of July, 1778, make an extraordinary demand,
namely: "That the Rajah of Benares should consent
to the establishment of three regular battalions of sepoys, to be raised and maintained at his own expense"; and the said expense was estimated at between fifty
and sixty thousand pounds sterling.
III. That the said requisition did suppose the consent of the Rajah, - the very word being inserted in
the body of his, the said Warren Hastings's, minute;
and the same was agreed to, though with some doubts
on the parts of two of his colleagues, Mr. Francis
and Mr. Wheler, concerning the right of making the
same, even worded as it was. But Mr. Francis and
Mr. Wheler, soon after, finding that the Rajah was
much alarmed by this departure from the treaty,
the requisition aforesaid was strenuously opposed by
? ? ? ? 342 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
them. The said Hastings did, notwithstanding this
opposition, persevere, and by his casting vote alone
did carry the said unjust and oppressive demand.
The Rajah submitted, after some murmuring and
remonstrance, to pay the sum required, -but on
the express condition (as has been frequently asserted by him to the said Warren Hastings without any contradiction) that the exaction should continue but
for one year, and should not be drawn into precedent.
He also requested that the extraordinary demand
should be paid along with the instalments of his
monthly tribute: but although the said Warren
Hastings did not so much as pretend that the instant payment was at all necessary, and though he
was urged by his before-mentioned colleagues to moderate his proceedings, he did insist upon immediate payment of the whole; and did deliver his demand
in proud and insulting language, wholly unfit for a
governor of a civilized nation to use towards eminent
persons in alliance with and in honorable and free
dependence upon its government; and did support
the same with arguments full of unwarrantable passion, and with references to reports affecting merely his own personal power and consideration, which reports were not proved, nor attempted to be proved, and, if proved, furnishing reasons insufficient for
his purpose, and indecent in any public proceedings.
That the said Hastings did cause the said sums of
money to be rigorously exacted, although no such
regular battalions as he pretended to establish, as a
color for his demand on the Rajah, were then raised,
or any steps taken towards raising them; and when
the said Rajah pleaded his inability to pay the whole
sum at once, he, the said Hastings, persevering in his
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 343
said outrageous and violent demeanor, did order the
Resident to wait on the Rajah forthwith, and " demand of him in person, and by writing, the full payment in specie to be made to him within five days of such demand, and to declare to him, in the name
of this government, that his evading or neglecting to
accomplish the payment thereof within that space of
time should be deemed equivalent to an absolute refusal; and in case of non-compliance with this [the
Resident's] demand, we peremptorily enjoin you to refrain from all further intercourse with him ": the said
Hastings appearing by all his proceedings to be more
disposed to bring on a quarrel with the Prince of
Benares, than to provide money for any public service.
IV. That the said demand was complied with, and
the whole thereof paid on the 10th of October that
year. And the said Rajah did write to the said Hastings a letter, in order to mitigate and mollify him,
declaring to the said Hastings that his sole reliance
was on him, "and that in every instance he depended on his faith, religion, promises, and actions. " But
he, the said Warren Hastings, as if the being reminded of his faith and promises were an incentive to him
to violate the same, although he had agreed that his
demand should not be drawn into precedent, and the
payment of the fifty thousand pounds aforesaid should
continue only for one year, did, the very day after he
had received the letter aforesaid, renew a demand of
the same nature and on the same pretence, this year
even less plausible than the former, of three battalions to be raised. The said Rajah, on being informed
of this requisition, did remind the said Warren Hast
? ? ? ? 344 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ings that he engaged in the last year that but one
payment should be made, and that he should not be
called upon in future, and, pleading inability to discharge the new demand, declared himself in the following words to the said Warren Hastings: " I am
therefore hopeful you will be kindly pleased to excuse me the five lacs now demanded, and that nothing may be demanded of me beyond the amount expressed in the pottah. " V. That on the day after the receipt of this letter,
that is, on the 28th August, 1779, he, the said Warren Hastings, made a reply to the said letter; and
without any remark whatsoever on the allegation of
the Rajah, stating to him his engagement, that he,
the said Rajah, should not be called upon in future,
he says, " I now repeat my demand, that you do, on
the receipt of this, without evasion or delay, pay the
five lac of rupees into the hands of Mr. Thomas
Graham, who has orders to receive it from you, and,
in case of your refusal, to summnon the two battalions of sepoys under the command of Major Camac
to Benares, that measures may be taken to oblige you
to a compliance; and in this case, the whole expense
of the corps, from the time of its march, will fall on
you. "
VI. That the said Rajah did a second and third
time represent to the said Warren Hastings that
he had broke his promise, and the said Hastings did
in no manner deny the same, but did, in contempt
thereof, as well as of the original treaty between,
the Company and the Rajah, order two battalions
of troops to march into his territories, and in a
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 345
manner the most harsh, insulting, and despotic, as
if to provoke that prince to some act of resistance, did
compel him to the payment of the said second unjust
demand; and did extort also the sum of two thousand
pounds, on pretence of the charge of the troops employed to coerce him.
VII. That the third year, that is to say, in the
year 1780, the same demand was, with the same menaces, renewed, and did, as before, produce several humble remonstrances and submissive complaints,
which the said Hastings did always treat as crimes
and offences of the highest order; and although in
the regular subsidy or tribute, which was monthly
payable by treaty, fifty days of grace were allowed on
each payment, and after the expiration of the said
fifty days one quarter per cent only was provided as
a penalty, he, the said Warren Hastings, on soume
short delay of payment of his third arbitrary and
illegal demand, did presume of his own authority to
impose a fine or mulct of ten thousand pounds on the
said Rajah; and though it does not appear whether
or no the same was actually levied, the said threat
was soon after followed by an order from the said
Hastings for the march of troops into the country
of Benares, as in the preceding year.
VIII. That, these violent and insulting measures
failing to provoke the Rajah, and he having paid up
the whole demand, the said Warren Hastings, being
resolved to drive him to extremities, did make on
the said Rajah a sudden demland, over and above the
ordinary tribute or subsidy of 260,0001. per annum,
and over and above the 50,0001. extraordinary, to
? ? ? ? 346 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
provide a body of cavalry for the service of the Bengal government.
IX. The demand, as expressed in the Minute of
Consultation, and in the public instructions of the
board to the Resident to make the requisition, is
" for such part of the cavalry entertained in his service as he can spare "; and the demand is in this and
in no other manner described by the Governor-General and Council in their letter to the Court of Directors. But in a Narrative of the said Warren Hastings's, addressed to Edward Wheler, Esquire, it appears, that, upon the Rajah's making difficulties, according to the representation of the said Hastings relative to the said requisition, the correspondence
concerning which the said Hastings hath fraudulently suppressed, he, the said Hastings, instead of adhering to the requisition of such cavalry as the Rajah
could spare, and which was all that by the order of
Council he was authorized to make, did, of his own
private and arbitrary authority, in some letter which
he hath suppressed, instruct the Resident, Markham,
to make a peromptory demand for two thousand cavalry, which he well knew to be more than the Rajah's
finances could support, estimating the provision for
the same at 96,0001. a year at the lowest, though the
expense of the same would probably have been much
more: which extravagant demand the said Hastilgs
could only have made in hopes of provoking the Rajah to some imprudent measure or passionate remonstrance. And this arbitrary demand of cavalry was
made, and peremptorily insisted onl, although in the
original treaty with the said Rajah it was left entirely
optional whether or not he should keep up any cav
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 347
alry at all, and in the Minute of Consultation it was
expressly mentioned to be thus optional, and that for
whatsoever cavalry he, the said Rajah, should furnish, he should be paid fifteen rupees per month for
each private, and so in proportion for officers: yet
the demand aforesaid was made without any offer
whatsoever of providing the said payment according
to treaty.
X. That the said Hastings did soon after, but
upon what grounds does not appear by any Minute
of Council, or from any correspondence contained in
his Narrative, reduce the demand to fifteen hundred,
and afterwards to one thousand: by which he showed
himself to be sensible of the extravagance of his first
requisition.
XI. That, in consequence of these requisitions, as
he asserts in his Narrative aforesaid, the Rajahl " did
offer two hundred and fifty horse, but sent none. "
But the said Hastings doth not accompany his said
Narrative with any voucher or document whatever;
and therefore the account given by the Rajah, and
delivered to the said Warren Hastings himself, inserted by the said Warren Hastings himself in his
Narrative, and in no part thereof attempted to be impeached, is more worthy of credit: that is to say,"With respect to the horse, you desired me in your letter to inform you of what number I could afford to station with you. I sent you a particular account of all that were in my service, amounting to one thousand three hundred horse, of which several
were stationed at distant places; but I received no
answer to this. Mr. Markham delivered me an order
? ? ? ? 348 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
to prepare a thousand horse. In compliance with
your wishes I collected five hundred horse, and a substitute for the remainder, five hundred burkundasses
[matchlock-men], of which I sent you information;
and I told Mr. Markham that they were ready to go
to whatever place they should be sent. No answer,
however, came from you on this head, and I remained
astonished at the cause of it. Repeatedly I asked
Mr. Markham about an answer to my letter about
the horse; but he told me that he did not know the
reason of no answer having been sent. I remained
astonished. "
XII. That the said Hastings is guilty of an high
offence in not giving an answer to letters of such importance, and in concealing the said letters from the
Court of Directors, as well as much of his correspondence with the Residents, -and more particularly in
not directing to what place the cavalry and matchlock-men aforesaid should be sent, when the Rajah
had declared they were ready to go to whatever service should be destined for them, and afterwards in
maliciously accusing the Rajah for not having sent
the same.
XIII. That, on the 3d of February, 1781, a new
demand for the support of the three fictitious battalions of sepoys aforesaid was made by the said Warren Hastings; but whilst the Rajah was paying by instalments the said arbitrary demand, the said Rajah was alarmed with some intelligence of secret projects
on foot for his ruin, and, being well apprised of the
malicious and revengeful temper of the said Hastings,
ill order to pacify him, if possible, offered to redeem
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 349
himself by a large ransom, to the amount of two hundred thousand pounds sterling, to be paid for the use of the Company. And it appears that the said alarm
was far from groundless; for Major Palmer, one of
the secret and confidential agents of the said Hast-*
ings, hath sworn, on the 4th of December, 1781, at the
desire of the said Warren Hastings, before Sir Elijah
Impey, to the following effect, that is to say: "' That
the said Warren Hastings had told him, the said
Palmer, that he, the said Hastings, had rejected the
offer of two hundred thousand pounds made by the
Rajah of Benares for the public service, and that he
was resolved to convert the faults committed by the Rajah into a public benefit, and would exact the sum of five hundred thousand pounds, as a punishment for
his breach of engagements with the government of
Bengal, and acts of misconduct in his zemindary; and
if the Rajah should absolutely refuse the demand, that
he would deprive him of his zemindary, or transfer the
sovereignty thereof to the Nabob of Oude. "
XIV. And Mr. Anderson, in his declaration from
Sindia's camp, of the 4th of January, 1782, did also,
at the desire of Mr. Hastings, depose (though not on
oath) concerning a conversation between him and
the said Hastings (but mentioning neither the time
nor place where the same was held); in which conversation, after reciting the allegations of the said Hastings relative to several particulars of the delay
and backwardness of the Rajah in paying the aforesaid extra demand, and his resolution to exact from
the Rajah " a considerable sum of money to the relief
of the Company's exigencies," he proceeds in the following words: " That, if he [the Rajah] consented,
? ? ? ? 350 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
you [the said Warren Hastings] were desirous of establishing his possessions on the most permanent and eligible footing; but if he refused, you had it in your
power to raise a large sum for the Company by accepting an offer which had been made for his districts by the Vizier. " And the said Anderson, in the declaration aforesaid, made at the request of the said Hastings, and addressed to him, expressed himself
as follows: " That you told me you had communicated our designs to Mr. Wheler [his only remaining colleague]; and I believe, but I do not positively
recollect, you said he concurred in them. " But
no trace of any such communication or concurrence
did, at the time referred to, or at any time ever after, appear on the Consultations, as it ought to have done; and the said Hastings is criminal for having
omitted to enter and record the proceeding. That
the said Wheler did also declare, but a considerable
time after the date of the conversations aforesaid,
that, " on the eve of the Governor-General's departure, the said Hastings had told him that the Rajah's offences (not stating what offences, he having paid
up all the demands, ordinary and extraordinary)
were declared to require early punishment; and as
his wealth was great, and the Company's exigencies
pressing, it was thought a measure of policy and of
justice to exact from him a large pecuniary mulct
for their relief. The sum to which the Governor declared his resolution to extend the fine was forty or
fifty lacs; his ability to pay it was stated as a fact
that could not admit of a doubt; and the two alternatives on which the Governor declared himself to have resolved were, to the best of my recollection,
either a removal from his zemind. ary entirely, or, by
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 351
taking immediate possession of all his forts, to obtain
out of the treasure deposited in them the above sum
for the Company. "
XV. That in the declaration of the said Wheler
the time of the conversation aforesaid is stated to be
on the eve of the Governor's departure, and then said
to be confidential; nor is it said or insinuated that
he knew or ever heard thereof at a more early period, though it appears by Major Palmer's affidavit that the design of taking, not four or five, but absolutely five, hundred thousand pounds from the Rajah, was communicated to him as early as the month of
June. And it does not appear by the declarations
of the said Wheler he did ever casually or officially
approve of the measure; which long concealment
and late communication, time not being allowed to
his colleague to consider the nature and consequences
of such a project, or to advise any precaution concerning the same, is a high misdemeanor.
XVI. That the said Hastings, having formed a
resolution to execute one of the three violent and
arbitrary resolutions aforesaid, - namely, to sell the
Company's sovereignty over Benares to the Nabob of
Oude, or to dispossess the Rajah of his territories, or
to seize upon his forts, and to plunder them of the
treasure therein contained, to the amount of four or
five hundred thousand pounds, - did reject the offer
of two hundred thousand pounds, tendered by the
said Rajah for his redemption from the injuries which
he had discovered that the said Hastings had clandestinely meditated against him, although the sum aforesaid would have been a considerable and season
? ? ? ? 352 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
able acquisition at that time: the said Hastings being determined, at a critical period, to risk the existence of the British empire, rather than fail in the gratification of his revenge against the said Rajah.
XVII. That the first of his three instituted projects, namely, the depriving the Rajah of his territories, was by himself considered as a measure likely
to be productive of much odium to the British government: he having declared, whatever opinions he
might entertain of its justice, "that it would have
an appearance of severity, and might furnish grounds
unfavorable to the credit of our government, and to his
own reputation, from the natural influence which
every act of rigor, exercised in the persons of men
in elevated situations, is apt to impress on those who
are too remote from the scene of action to judge, by
any evidence of the facts themselves, of their motives or propriety. " And the second attempt, the
sum of money which he aimed at by attacking the
fortresses of the Rajah, and plundering them of the
treasure supposed to be there secured, besides the obvious uncertainty of acquiring what was thus sought,
would be liable to the same imputations with the fornuer. And with regard to the third project, namely,
the sale of the Company's sovereignty to the Nabob
of Oude, and his having actually received proposals
for the same, it was an high offence to the Company,
as presuming, without their authority or consent, to
put up to sale their sovereign rights, and particularly
to put them up to sale to that very person against
whom the independence of the said province had
been declared by the Governor-General and Council
to be necessary, as a barrier for the security of the
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 353
other provinces, in case of a. future rupture with him. *
It was an heinous injury to the said Rajah to attempt
to change his relation without his consent, especially on account of the person to whom he was to be
made over for money, by reason of the known enmity
subsisting between his family and that of the Nabob,
who was to be the purchaser; and it was a grievous
outrage on the innocent inhabitants of the zemindary
of Benares to propose putting them under a person
long before described by himself to the Court of Directors " to want the qualities of the head and heart
requisite for his station"; and a letter from the
British Resident at Oude, transmitted to the said[
Court, represents him "to have wholly lost, by his;
oppressions, the confidence and affections of his own
subjects"; and whose distresses, and the known disorders in his government, he, the said Hastings, did
attribute solely to his own bad conduct and evil
character; admitting also, in a letter written to Edward Wheler, Esquire, and transmitted to the Court
of Directors, " that many circumstances did favor suspicion of his [the said Nabob's] fidelity to the English interest, the Nabob being surrounded by men base in their characters and improvident in their understandings, his favorites, and his companions of his
looser hours. These had every cause to dread the
effect of my influence on theirs; and both these, and
the relations of the family, whose views of consequence and power were intercepted by our participation in the administration of his affairs, entertained a mortal hatred to our nation, and openly avowed it. "
And the said Hastings was well aware, that, in case
the Nabob, by him described in the manner aforesaid,
* See Hastings's Letter.
VOL. VIII. 23
? ? ? ? 354 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
on making such purchase, should continue to observe
the terms of his father's original covenants and engagements with the Rajah, and should pay the Comparny the only tribute which he could lawfully exact from the said Rajah, it was impossible that he could,
for the mere naked and unprofitable rights of a sovereignlty paramount, afford to offer so great a sum as
the Rajahll did offer to the said Hastings for his redemption from oppression; such an acquisition to
the Nabob (while he kept his faith) could not possibly be of any advantage whatever to him; and that
therefore, if a great sum was to be paid by the Nabob
of Oude, it must be for the purpose of oppression
and violation of public faith, to be perpetrated in the
person of the said Nabob, to an extent and in a
manner which the said Hastings was then apprehensive. he could not justify to the Court of Directors as
his own personal act.
PART III.
EXPULSION OF THE RAJAH OF BENARES.
I. THAT the said Warren Hastings, being resolved
on the ruin of the Rajah aforesaid, as a preliminary
step thereto, did, against the express orders of the
Court of Directors, remove Francis Fowke, Esquire,
the Company's Resident at the city of Benares, without any complaint or pretence of complaint whatsoever, but merely on his own declaration that he must have as a Resident at Benares a person of his own
special and personal nomination and confidence, and
not a man of the Company's nomination,- and ill
the place of the said Franlcis Fowke, thus illegally
divested of hlis office, did appoint thereto another servant of the Company of his own choice.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 355
II. That, soon after he had removed the Company's Resident, he prepared for a journey to the upper
provinces, and particularly to Benares, in order to
execute the wicked and perfidious designs by him before meditated and contrived: and although he did
communicate his purpose privately to such persons as
he thought fit to intrust therewith, he did not enter
anything on the Consultations to that purpose, or
record the principles, real or pretended, on which he
had resolved to act, nor did he state any guilt in the
Rajah which he intended to punish, or charge him,
the said Rajah, with entertaining any hostile intentions, the effects of which were to be prevented by any
strong measure; but, on the contrary, he did industriously conceal his real designs from the Court of
Directors, and did fallaciously enter on the Consultations a minute declaratory of purposes wholly different
therefrom, and which supposed nothing more than an
amicable adjustment, founded on the treaties between
the Company and the Rajah, investing himself by his
said minute with " full power and authority to form
such arrangements with the Rajah of Benares for the
better government and management of his zemindary,
and to perform such acts for the improvement of the
interest which the Company possesses in it, as he
shall think fit and consonant to the mutual engagements subsisting between the Company and the Rajah "; and for this and other purposes he did invest himself with the whole power of the Council, giving to himself an authority as if his acts had been
the acts of the Council itself: which, though a power of a dangerous, unwarrantable, and illegal extent,
yet does plainly imply the following limits, namely,
that the acts done should be arranged with the Rajah,
? ? ? ? 356 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
that is, with his consent; and, secondly, that they
should be consonant to the actual engagements between the parties; and nothing appears in the minute conferring the said power, which did express or imnply any authority for depriving the Rajah of his
government, or selling the sovereignty thereof to his
hereditary enemy, or for the plunder of his fort-treasures.
III. That the said Warren Hastings, having formed
the plans aforesaid for the ruin of the Rajah, did set
out on a journey to the city of Benares with a great
train, but with a very small force, not much exceeding six companies of regular black soldiers, to perpetrate some of the unjust and violent acts by him meditated and resolved on; and the said Hastings
was met, according to the usage of distinguished persons in that country, by the Rajah of Benares with a
very great attendance, both in boats and on shore,
which attendance he did apparently intend as a mark
of honor and observance to the place and person of
the said Hastings, but which the said Hastings did
afterwards groundlessly and maliciously represent as
an indication of a design upon his life; and the said
Rajah came into the pinnace in which the said Hastings was carried, and in a lowly and suppliant manner, alone, and without any guard or attendance whatsoever, entreated his favor; and being received
with great sternness and arrogance, he did put his
turban in the lap of the said Hastings, thereby signifying that he abandoned his life and fortune to his
disposal, and then departed, the said Hastings not apprehending, nor having any reason to apprehend, anly
violence whatsoever to his person.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 357
IV. That the said Hastings, in the utmost security
and freedom from apprehension, did pursue his journey, and did arrive at the city of Benares on the 14th
of August, 1781, some hours before the Rajah, who,
soon after his arrival, intended to pay him a visit of
honor and respect at his quarters, but was by the said
Hastings rudely and insolently forbid, until he should
receive his permission. And the said Hastings, although he had previously determined on the ruin of
the said Rajah, in order to afford some color of regularity and justice to his proceedings, did, on the day
after his arrival, that is, on the 15th day of August,
1781, send to the Rajah a charge in writing, which,
though informal and irregular, may be reduced to four
articles, two general, and two more particular: the
first of the general being, " That he [the Rajah] had,
by the means of his secret agents, endeavored to bxcite
disorders in the government on which he depended";
the second," That he had suffered the daily perpetration'of robberies and murders, even in the streets of
Benares, to the great and public scandal of the English name. "
V. That it appears that the said Warren Hastings
is guilty of an high offence, contrary to the fundamental principles of justice, in the said mode of charging
misdemeanors, without any specification of person or
place or time or act, or any offer of specification or
proofs by which the party charged may be enabled
to refute the same, in order to unjustly load his reputation, and to prejudice him with regard to the articles more clearly specified. VI. That the two specified articles relate to cer
? ? ? ? 358 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
tain delays: the first, with regard to the payment of
the sums of money unjustly extorted as aforesaid;
and the second, the non-compliance with a requisition
of cavalry, - which non-compliance the said Hastings (even if the said charges had been founded) did falsely, and in contradiction to all law, affirm and
maintain (in his accusation against the Rajah, and
addressing himself to him) " to amount to a direct
charge of disaffection and infidelity to the government
on which you depend": and further proceeded as
follows: "' I therefore judged it proper to state them
[the said charges] thus fully to you in writing, and to
require your answer; and this I expect immediately. "
That the said Hastings, stating his pretended facts to
amount to a charge of the nature (as he would have
it understood) of high treason, and therefore calling
for an immediate answer, did wilfully act against the
rules of natural justice, which requires that a convenient time should be given to answer, proportioned to the greatness of the offence alleged, and the lfeavy
penalties which attend it; and when he did arrogate
to himself a right both to charge and to judge in his
own person, lie ought to have allowed the Rajah full
opportunity for conferring with his ministers, his doctors of law, and his accountants, on the facts charged, and on the criminality inferred in the said accusation
of disloyalty and disaffection, or offences of that quality.
VII. That the said Rajah did, under the pressure
of the disadvantages aforesaid, deliver in, upon the
very evening of the day of the charge, a full, complete,
and specific answer to the two articles therein specified; and did allege and offer proof that the whole of
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 359
the extraordinary demands of the said Hastings had
been actually long before paid and discharged; and
did state a proper defence with regard to the cavalry,
even supposing him bound (when he was not bound)
to furnish anly. And the said Rajah did make a direct denial of the truth of the two general articles, and did explain himself on the same in as satisfactory a
manner and as fully as their nature could permit, offering to enter into immediate trial of the points in issue between him and the said Hastings, in the remarkable words following. " My enemies, with a view to my ruin, have made false representations to you.
Now that, happily for me, you have yourself arrived
at this place, you will be able to ascertain all the circumstances: first, relative to the horse; secondly, to my people going to Calcutta; and thirdly, the dates
of the receipts of the particular sums above mentioned.
You will then know whether I have amused you with
a false representation, or made a just report to you.