, unless the same had been
substantially
of his gift.
Edmund Burke
That the Nabob, on the 24th of February of
the same year, did again write to the Governor-General, the said Warren Hastings, a letter, in which he
expressed his constant friendship to. the Company,
and his submission and obedience to their orders, and
asserting that he had not troubled them with. any
of his difficulties, trusting they would learn them
from other quarters, and that he should be relieved
by their friendship. "But," he says, " when the
knife had penetrated to the bone, and I was surrounded
with such heavy distresses that I. could no longer live
in expectations, I then wrote an account of my difficulties. The answer I have received to it is such that
it has given me inexpressible grief and affliction. I
never had the least idea or expectation from: you and
the Council that you would. have given your orders
in so afflicting a manner, in which you never before
wrote, and I could never have imagined. I have delivered up all my private papers to him [the Resident],
that, after. examining my receipts and expenses, he
? ? ? ? 102 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
may take whatever remains. That, as I know it to
be my duty to satisfy you [the Company and Council], I have not failed to obey in any instance; but
requested of him that it might be done so as not to
distress me in my necessary expenses. There being
no other funds but those for the expenses of my mutseddies [clerks and accountants], household expenses,
and servants, &c. , he demanded these in such a manner, that, being remediless, I was obliged to comply
with what he required. He has accordingly stopped
the pensions of my old servants for thirty years, whether
sepoys [soldiers], mutseddies [secretaries and accountants], or household servants, and the expenses of my
family and kitchen, together with the jaghires of my
grandmother, mother, and aunts, and of my brothers and
defendants, which were for their support. "
XII. That, in answer to the letter aforesaid, the
Resident received from the said Warren Hastings and
Council an order to persevere in the demand to its
fullest extent, - that is to say, to the amount of
1,400,0001. sterling.
XIII. That on the 15th of May the Nabob replied,
complaining in an humble and suppliant manner of
his distressed situation: that he had at first opposed
the assigning to the use of the Company the estates
of his mother, of his grandmother, of one of his uncles, and of the sons of another, but that, in obedience to the injunctions of the gentlemen of the Council, it had been done, to the amount, on the whole, of 80,0001. sterling a year, or thereabouts; that whatever effects were in the country, with even his table,
his animals, and the salaries of his servants, were
? ? ? ? AGAINST. WARREN HASTINGS. 103
granted in assignments; that, besides these, if they
were resolved again to compel him to give up the estates of his parents and relations, which were granted
them for their maintenance, they were at the Company's disposal; saying, "If the Council have directed
you to attach them, do it: in the country no further
sources remain. I have no means; for I have not a
subsistence. - How long shall I dwell upon my misfortunes? "
XIV. That the truth of the said remonstrances
was not disputed, nor the tone in which they were
written complained of, the same being submissive,
and even abject, though the cause (his distresses)
was by the said Hastings, in a great degree, and in
terms the most offensive, attributed to the Nabob
himself; but no relief was given, and the same unwarrantable establishments, maintained at the same
ruinous expense, were kept up.
XV. That the said Warren Hastings, having considered as incendiaries those who advised the remonstrances aforesaid, and, to prevent the same in future, having denounced vengeance on those concerned therein, did, for the purpose of keeping in his own
power all representations of the state of the court and
country aforesaid, and to subject both the one and
the other to his own arbitrary will, and to draw to
himself and to his creatures the management of the
Nabob's revenues, in defiance of the orders of tlie
Court of Directors, a second time recall Mr. Bristow,
tile Company's Resident, from the court of Oude, -
hlavilg once before recalled him, as the said Directors
express themselves, " without the shadow of a charge
? ? ? ? 104 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
being exhibited against him," and having, on tlie occasion and time now stated, produced no specific charge against the said Resident; and he, the said
Hastings, did appoint Nathaniel Middleton, Esquire,
to succeed him,- it being his declared principle, that
he must have a person of his own confidence in that
situation.
XVI. That the said Warren Hastings, after he
hlad refused all relief to the distresses of the Nabob in
the manner aforesaid, and had described those who
advised the representation of the grievances of Oude
as incendiaries, did himself, in a minute of the 21st
May, 1781, describe that province " as fallen into a
state of great disorder and confusion, and its resources in an extraordinary degree diminished," -- and did state, that his presence in the said province
was requested by the Nabob, and that, unless some
effectual measures were taken for his relief, he [the
Nabob] must be under the necessity of leaving his
country, and coming down to Calcutta, to represent
the situation of his government. And Mr. Wheler
did declare that the Governor-General's representation of the state of that province "' was but too well founded, and was convinced that it would require his
utmost abilities and powers, applied and exercised on
the spot, to restore it to its former good order and
affluence. "
XVII. That the said Warren Hastings, in consequence of the minute aforesaid, did grant to himself,
and did procure the consent of his only colleague,
Edward Wheler, Esquire, to a commission or delegation, with, powers. "to assist the Nabob Vizier in
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 105
forming such regulations as may be necessary for the
peace and good order of his government, the improvement of his revenue, and the adjustment of the mutual concerns subsisting between him and the Company. " And in the said commission or delegation he,
the said Warren HIastings, did cause to be inserted
certain powers and provisions of a new and dangerous nature: that is to say, reciting the business before
mentioned, he did convey to himself " such authority to enforce the same as the G'overnor- General and
Council might or could exeiecise on occasions in which
they could be warranted to exercise the same, and to
fbrm and conclude such several engagements or treaties with the Nabob Vizier, the government of Berar,
and with any chiefs or powers of Hindostan, as he
should judge expedient and necessary. " Towards
the conclusion of the act or instrument aforesaid are
the words following, viz. : "It is hereby declared,
that all such acts, and all such engagements or treaties aforesaid, shall be binding on the Governor-General and Council in the same manner, and as effectually, as if they had been done and passed by the specific and immediate concurrence and actual junction of the
Glovernor-General and Council in council assembled. "
And the said powers were, by the said Warren Hast,
ings, given by himself and the said Wheler, under
the seal of the Company, on the 3d July, 1781.
XVIII. That the said commission, delegating to
him, the said Warren Hastings, the whole functions
of the Council, is destructive to the constitution
thereof, and is contrary to the Company's standing
orders, and is illegal.
? ? ? ? 106 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
XIX. That, in virtue of those powers, and the illegal delegation aforesaid, the said Warren Hastings,
after he had finished his business at Benares, did procure a meeting with the Nabob of Oude at a place called Chunar, upon the confines of the country of
Benares, and did there enter into a treaty, or pre
tended treaty, with the said Nabob; one part of
which the said Warren Hastings did pretend was
drawn up from a series of requisitions presented to
him by the Nabob, but which requisitions, or any
copy thereof, or of any other material document relative thereto, he did not at the time transmit to the Presidency, -the said Warren Hastings informing
Mr. Wheler, that the Resident, Middleton, had taken
the authentic papers relative to this transaction with
him to Lucknow: and it does not appear that the
said Warren Hastings did ever reclaim the said papers, in order to record them at the Presidency, to
be transmitted to the Court of Directors, as it was
his duty to do.
XX. That the purport of certain articles of the
said treaty, on the part of the Company, was, that, in
consideration of the Nabob's inability (which inability the preamble of the treaty asserts to have been "repeatedly and urgently represented ") to support
the expenses of the temporary brigade, and of three
regiments of cavalry, and also of the British officers
with their battalions, and of other gentlemen who
were then paid by him, the several corps aforesaid,
and the other gentlemen, (with the exception of the
Resident's office then on the Nabob's list, and a regiment of sepoys for the Resident's guard,) should, after a term of two and a half months, be no longer at his,
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 107
the Nabob's, charge: " the true meaning of this being,
that no more troops than one brigade, and the pay and
allowances of a regiment of sepoys," (as aforesaid, to
the Resident,) amounting in the whole to 342,0001. a
year, should be paid by the Nabob; and that no officers,
troops, or others, should be put upon the Nabob's establishment, exclusive of those in the said treaty stipulated.
XXI. That the said Warren Hastings did defend
and justify the said articles, in which the troops aforesaid were to be removed from the Nabob's establishment, by declaring as follows. " That the actual disbursements to those troops had fallen upon our own funds, and that we support a body of troops, established solely for the defence of the Nabob's possessions,
at our own expense. It is true, we charge the Nabob
with this expense; but the large balance already due
from him shows too justly the little prospect there was
of disengaging ourselves from a burden which was
daily adding to our distresses and must soon become
insupportable, although it were granted that the Nabob's debt, then suffered to accumulate, might at some
future period be liquidated, and that this measure
would substantially effect an instant relief to the pecuniary distresses of the Company. "
XXII. That Nathaniel Middleton, the Resident,
did also declare that he would at all times testify,
"that, upon the plan of the foregoing years, the
receipts from the Nabob were only a deception, and
not an advantage, but an injury to the Company," and
"that a remission to the Nabob of this insufferable
burden was a profit to the Company. " And the said
? ? ? ? 108 ARTICLES'OF CHARGE
Hastings did assert that the force of the Company was
not lessened by withdrawing the temporary troops;
although, when it suited the purpose of the said Hastings, in denying just relief to the distresses of the said
Nabob of Oude, he had not scrupled to assert the
direct contrary of the positions by him maintained in
justification of the treaty of Chunar, -having in his
minute aforesaid, of the 15th of December, 1779,
asserted, "that these troops" (the troops maintained. by the Nabob of Oude) "had. no separate or distinct
existence, and may be properly said to consist of our
whole military establishment, with the exception only
of our European infantry, and that they could not be
withdrawn, without imnposing on the Company the additional burden of their expense, or disbanding nine battalions of disciplined sepoys and three regiments of'horse. " XXIII. That he, the said Warren Hastings, in
justification of his agreement to withdraw the troops
aforesaid from the territories and pay of the Nabob
of Oude, did further declare, " that he had been too
much accustomed to the tales of hostile preparation
-and impending invasions, against. all the evidence of
political probability, to regard them as any other than
phantoms raised for the purpose of perpetuating or
multiplying commands," and he did trust "~ all ideas
of danger from the neighboring powers were altogether visionary; and that, even if they had been better founded, this mode of anticipating possible evils
would be more mischievous than anything they had
reason to apprehend," and that the internal state of
the Nabob's dominions did not require the continuance
of the said troops; and that the Nabob, "whose concern
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 109
it was, and not ours," did affirm the same, - notwithstanding he, the said Hastings, had before, in answer
to the humble supplications of the Nabob, asserted,
that " it was our part, and not his, to judge and determine in what manner and at what time they should
be reduced or withdrawn. "
XXIV. That the said Warren Hastings, in support
of his measure of withdrawing the said brigade and
other troops, did also represent, that "the remote
stations of those troops, placing the commanding officers beyond the notice and control of the board, afforded too much opportunity and temptation for unwarrantable emoluments, and excited the contagion of peculation and rapacity throughout the whole army,
and;,'as an instance thereof, that a court-martial, composed of officers of rank and respectable characters,
unanimously and honorably,'most honorably,' acquitted an officer upon an acknowledged fact which
in times of stricter discipline would have been deemed
a crime deserving the severest punishment. "
XXV. That the said Warren Hastings, having in
the letter aforesaid contradicted all the grounds and
reasons by him assigned for keeping up the aforesaid
establishment, and having declared his owni conviction
that the whole was a fallacy and imposition, and a
detriment to the Company instead of a benefit, circumstances (if they are true) which he might and
ought to have well known, was guilty of an high crime
and misdemeanor in carrying on the imposture and
delusion aforesaid, and in continuing an insupportable burden and grievance upon the Nabob for several
years, without attending to his repeated supplications
? ? ? ? 11. 0 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
to be relieved therefrom, to the utter ruin of his country, and to the destruction of the discipline of the
British troops, by diffusing among them. a general
spirit of peculation; and the said Hastings hath committed a grievous offence in upholding the same pernicious system, until, by his own confession and declaration, in his minute of the 21st of May, 1781, " the evils had grown to so great an height, that exertions will be required more powerful than can be
made through the delegated authority of the servants of the Company now in the province, and that
he was far from sanguine in his expectations that
even his own endeavors would be attended with much
sucess88. "
XXVI. That, at the time of making the said treaty,
and at the time when, under color of the distress of
the Nabob of Oude, and the failure of all other means
for his relief, he, the said Hastings, broke the Company's faith with the parents of the Nabob, and first
encouraged and afterwards compelled him to despoil
them of their landed estates, money, jewels, and household goods, and while the said Nabob continued
heavily in debt to the Company, he, the said Warren
Hastings, did, " without hesitation," accept of and
receive from the Nabob of Oude and his ministers
(who are notoriously known to be not only under his
influence, but under his absolute command) a bribe,
or unlawful gift or present, of one hundred thousand
pounds sterling, and upwards. That, even if the said
pretended gift could be supposed to be voluntary, it
was contrary to the express provision of the Regulating
Act of the 13th year of his Majesty's reign, prohibiting
the receipt of all presents upon any pretence whatso
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 111
ever, and contrary to his own sense of the true intent
and meaning of the said act, declared upon a similar,
but not so strong a case, - that is, where the service
done, and the present offered in return for it, had
taken place before the promulgation of the above laws
in India: on that occasion he declared, " that the exclusion by an act of Parliament admitted of no abatement or evasion, wherever its authority extended. " XXVII. That the said Warren Hastings, confiding
in an interest which he supposed himself to have
formed in the East India House, did endeavor to prevail on the Court of Directors to violate the said act,
and to suffer him to appropriate the money so illegally accepted by him to his own profit, as a reward
for his services.
XXVIII. That the said Warren Hastings has since
declared to the Court of Directors, that, when fortune
threw a sum in his way (meaning the sum of money
above mentioned) of a magnitude which could not be
concealed, he chose to apprise his employers of it:
thereby confessing, that, but for the magnitude of the
same rendering it difficult to be concealed, he never
would have discovered it to them. And the said unlawful present being received at the time when, for
reasons directly contradictory of all his former recorded declarations, he did agree to remnove the aforesaid
troops from the Nabob's dominions, and to recall the
pensioners aforesaid, it must be presumed that he
did not agree to give the relief (which he had before
so obstinately refused) upon the grounds and motives
of justice, policy, or humanity, but in consideration
* See his letter of the 11th July, 1785, at the end of the Charges.
? ? ? ? 112 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
of the sum of money aforesaid, which, in a time of
such extreme distress in the Nabob's affairs, could not
be rationally given, except for those and other concessions stipulated for in the said treaty, but which had on former occasions been refused.
XXIX. That, notwithstanding his, the said Warren Hastings's, receipt of the present of one hundred thousand pounds, as aforesaid, he did violate every
one of the stipulations in the said treaty contained, and
particularly he did continue in the country, and in
the service of the Nabob of Oude, those troops which
he had so:recently stipulated to withdraw from his
country and to take from his establishment: for, upon the 24th of December following, he did order the temporary brigade, making ten battalions of five hundred men each, to be again put on the Vizier's list, although he had recently informed the Court of Directors, through Edward Wheler, Esquire, that any benefit to be derived from the Nabob's paying that
brigade was a fallacy and a deception, and that the
same was a charye upon the Company, and not an
alleviatiorn of its distresses, as well as an insupportable
burden to the Nabob: thus having, within a short
space of time, twice contradicted himself, both in declaration and in conduct.
XXX. That this measure, in direct violation of a
treaty of not three months' duration, was so injudicious, that, in the opinion of the Assistant Resident, Johnson,' nothing less than blows could effect it":
he, the said Resident, further adding, " that the Nabob
was not even able to pay off the arrears still due to it
[the new brigade]; and that the troops being all in
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 113
arrears, and lno possibility of present payment, so large
a body assembled here [viz. , at Lucknow] without any
means to check and control them, nothing but disorder could follow. As one proof that the Nabob is as badly off for funds as we are, I may inform you that
his cavalry rose this day upon him, and went all armed
to the palace, to demand from thirteen to eighteen
months' arrears, and were with great difficulty persuaded to retire, which was probably more effected by a body of troops getting under arms to go against
them than any other consideration. " But the letter of
Warren Hastings, Esquire, of the 24th of December,
giving the above orders for the infraction of the treaty,
and to which the letter from whence the foregoing
extracts are taken is anll answer, doth not appear, any
otherwise than as the same is recited ill the said answer.
XXXI. That, notwithstanding the disorders and
deficiencies in the revenue aforesaid had continued
and increased, and that three very large balances
had accumulated, the said Warren Hastings did
cause the Treasury accounts at Calcutta to be examined and scrutinized, and an account of another arrear, composed of various articles, pretended to
have accumulated during seven years previous to the
year 1779, (the articles composing which, if they had
been just, ought to have been charged at the times
they severally became due,) was sent to the Resident,
and payment thereof demanded, to the amount of
260,0001. sterling; which unexpected demand, in so
distressed a situation, did not a little embarrass the
Nabob. But whilst he and his ministers were examining into the said unexpected demand, another, and VOL. IX. 8
? ? ? ? 114 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
fifth balance, made up of similar forgotten articles
was demanded, to the amount of 140,0001. sterling
more. Which said two last demands did so terrify
and confound the Nabob and his ministers, that they
declared that the Resident "might at once take the
country, since justice was out of the question. "
XXXII. That the said Hastings, in order to add
to the confusion, perplexity, and distress of the Nabob's affairs, did send to his court (in which he had
already a Resident and Assistant Resident) two secret agents, Major Palmer and Major Davy, and did
instruct Major Palmer to make a variety of new
claims, one. of a loan to the Company of 600,0001.
sterling, although he well knew the Nabob was himself heavily in arrear to the Company, and was utterly unable to discharge the same, as well as in arrear to his own troops, and to many individuals, and
that he borrowed (when he could at all borrow) at
an interest of near tlhirty per cent. To this demand
was added a new bribe, or unlawful present, to himself, to the amount of 100,0001. sterling, which he
did not refuse as unlawful and of evil example, but
as indelicate in the Nabob's present situation, -- and
did, as if the same was his own property, presume
to dispose of it, and to desire the transfer of it, as of
his own bounty, to the Company, his masters. To
this second demand he, the said Hastings, added a
third demand of 120,0001. sterling, for four additional regiments on the Nabob's list, after he had solemnly engaged to take off the ten with which it had been burdened: the whole of the claims through his
private agent aforesaid making the sum of 820,0001.
sterling.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 115
XXXIII. That the demands, claims, &c. , made by
the said Warren Hastings upon the government of
Oude in that year amounted to the enormous sum
of 2,530,0001. sterling; which joined to the arrears,
to troops, and some internal failures, amounting to
255,0001. sterling more, the whole charge arose to
2,785,0001. sterling, which was considerably more
than double the net produce of the Nabob's revenue,
- the same only amounting to 1,450,0001. "nominal revenue, never completely realized. "
XXXIV. That, towards providing for these extravagant demands, he, the said Warren Hastings,
did direct and authorize another breach. of the public faith given in the treaty of Chunar. For whereas,
by the second article of the treaty aforesaid, it was
left to the Nabob's discretion whether or not he should
resume the landed estates, called jaghires, within his
dominions, and notwithstanding the said Hastings, in
defence of the said article, did declare that the Nabob should be left to the exercise of his own authority and pleasure respecting them, yet he, the said Hastings, did authorize a violent compulsion to be
used towards the said Nabob for accomplishing an
universal confiscation of that species of landed property; and in so doing he did also compel the Nabob
to break his faith with all the landholders of that
description, not only in violating the assurance of his
own original grants, but his assurance recently given,
when, being pressed by the Company, he, the Nabob,
had made a temporary seizure of the profits of the
lands aforesaid, in the manner of a compulsory loan,
for the repayment of which he gave his bonds and obligations; and although he had at the same time sol
? ? ? ? 116 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
emnly pledged his faith that he never would again
resort to the like oppressive measure, yet he, the said.
Warren Hastings, did cause him to be compelled to
confiscate the estates of at least sixty-seven' of the
principal persons of his country, comprehending therein his own nearest relations and the ancient friends and dependants of his family: the annual value of the
said estates thus confiscated amounting to 435,0001.
sterling, or thereabouts, upon an old valuation, but
stated by the Resident, Middleton, as being found to
yield considerably more.
XXXV. That the violent and unjust measure
aforesaid, subversive of property, utterly destructive
of several ancient and considerable families, and most
dishonorable to the British government, did produce
an universal discontent and the greatest confusion
throughout the whole country, - the said confiscated
lands being on this occasion put to rack-rents, and the
people grievously oppressed: and to prevent a possibility of redress, at least for a considerable time, the said confiscated estates were mortgaged (it appearing
otherwise impracticable to make an approach towards
satisfying the exorbitant demands of the said Hastings) for a great sum t6 certain usurious bankers or money-dealers at Benares.
XXXVI. That, besides these enormous demands,
which were in part made for the support of several
corps of troops under British officers which by the
treaty of Chunar ought to have been removed, very
large extra charges not belonging to the military list
of the said Nabob, and several civil charges and pensions, were continued, and others newly put on since
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 117
the treaty of Chunar, namely, an allowance to Sir
Eyre Coote of 15,554 rupees per month, (being upwards of 18,6641. sterling a year,) and an allowance
to Trevor Wheler, Esquire, of 5,000 rupees per month
(or 6,0001. sterling and upwards a year); and the
whole of the settled charges, not of a military nature, to British subjects, did amount to little less than
140,0001. yearly, and, if other allowances not included in the estimate were added, would greatly exceed that sum, besides much more which may justly be suspected to have been paid, no part whereof had at that time been brought forward to any public
account.
XXXVII. That the commander of one of these
corps, of whose burden the said Nabob did complain,
was Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Hannay, who did
farm the revenues of certain districts called Baraitch
and Goruckpore, which the said Hastings, in the ninth
article of his instructions to Mr. Bristow, did estimate
at twenty-three lacs of rupees, or 230,0001. , per annum: but under his, the said Hannay's, management,
the collections did very greatly decline; complaints
were made that the countries aforesaid were harassed
and oppressed, and the same did fall into confusion,
and at last the inhabitants broke out into a general
rebellion.
XXXVIII. That the far greater part of the said
heavy list was authorized or ordered by him, the said
Warren Hastings, for the purpose of extending his
own corrupt influence: for it doth appear, that, at
the time when he did pretend, in conformity to the
treaty of Chunar aforesaid, to remove the Company's
? ? ? ? 118 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
servants, " civil and military, from the court and service of the Vizier," he did assert that he thereby did
" diminish his own influence, as well as that of his colleagues, by narrowing the line of patronage "; which
proves that the offices, pensions, and other emoluments aforesaid, in Oude, were of his patronage, as
his patronage could not be diminished by taking away
the said offices, &c.
, unless the same had been substantially of his gift. And he did, at the time of the
pretended reformation aforesaid, express both his
knowledge of the existence of the said excessive and
abusive establishments, and his sense of his duty in
taking them away: for in agreeing to the article in
the treaty of Chunar for abolishing the said establishments, he did declare himself " actuated solely by motives of justice to the Nabob, and a regard to the honor of our national character"; and, according to
his own representation, the said servants of the Company, civil and military, "' by their numbers, their influence, and the enormous amount of their salaries, pensions, and emoluments, were an intolerable burden
on the revenues and authority of the Vizier, and exposed us to the envy and resentment of the whole country, by excluding the native servants and adherents of the Vizier from the rewards of their services and
attachment. "
XXXIX. That the revenue of the country being
anticipated, mortgaged, and dilapidated, by the counsel, concurrence, connivance, and influence, and often
by the direct order of the said Warren Hastings,
the whole civil government, magistracy, and administration of justice gradually declined and at length
totally ceased through the whole of the vast provinces
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 119
which compose the territory of Oude, and no power
was visible therein but that of the farmers of the rev.
enue, attended by bodies of troops to enforce the collections; insomuch that robberies, assassinations, and
acts of every description of outrage and violence were
perpetrated with impunity, - and even in the capital
city of Lucknow, the seat of the sovereign power,
there was no court of justice whatever to take cognizance of such offences.
XL. That the said Warren Hastings, when he did
interfere in the government of Oude, was obliged by
his duty to interfere for-the good purposes of government, and not' merely for the purpose of extorting
money therefrom and enriching his own dependants,
which latter purpose alone he did effect, in the manner before mentioned, but not one of the former. For
the said Iastings, having procured' the extraordinary
powers given by and to himself by his delegation of
the 3d of July, 1781, did declare the same to be for
the purpose, among many others, " of assisting the
Nabob Vizier in forming such regulations as may be
necessary for the peace and good order of his government and the improvement of his revenue. " And in
consequence of the said powers, the said Warren
Hastings did, in the treaty of ChuInar, obtain an article from the Nabob by which the said Nabob did promise to attend to his' advice in the reformation of his civil administration; and he did give certain instructions to the Resident, Middleton, to which lie did
require him to yield the most implicit obedience, and
did in one article thereof direct him to urge the Nabob to endeavor gradually; if it could not be doie at
once, to establish courts of aclzw! ut [justice], and that
? ? ? ? 120 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the darogahs chief criminal magistrates], moulavies
[consulting or assistant lawyers], and other officers,
should be selected by the ministers, with his, the
Resident's, concurrence; and afterwards, in his instructions to the Resident Bristow, desiring him to
pursue the same object, he declared his opinion, " that
the want of such cou. rts, and the extreme licentiousness occasioned thereby, is one of the most disreputable defects in his Highness the Nabob's government, and that, while they do not exist, every man knows
the hazard which he incurs in lending his money";
but he did give him, the said Resident, no positive
instruction concerning the same, supposing the establishment of such courts a matter of difficulty, and
did therefore leave him a latitude in his proceedings
therein.
XLI. That the said Resident Bristow did, however, in conformity to the said instructions, at last
given with such latitude, endeavor to prevail on the
said minister gradually to introduce courts of justice
for the cognizance of crimes, by beginning to establish
a criminal court under a native judge, to judge according to the Mahomedan law in the city of Lucknow.
But Hyder Beg Khan, a minister of the said Warren
Hastings's nomination, and solely dependent upon
him, did elude and obstruct, and in the end totally
defeat, the establishment of the same.
XLII. That the obstruction aforesaid, and the evil
consequences thereof, were duly represented to the
said Hastings; and though the said Hastings had
made it the fourth article of a criminal charge against
the Resident Middleton, "'that he did not report to
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 121
the Governor-General, or to the board, the progress
which he had made from time to time in his endeavors
to comply with his instructions, and that, if lie met
with any impediments in the execution of them, he
had omitted to state those impediments, and to apply
for fresh orders upon them," yet he, the said Hastings,
did give no manner of support to the Resident Bris
tow against the said Hyder Beg Khan, and did not
even answer several of his letters, the said Bristow's
letters, stating the said impediments, or take any notice of his remonstrances, but did at length revoke
his own instructions, declaring that he, the said Resident, should not presume to act upon the same, and
yet did not furnish him with any others, upon which
he might act, but did uphold the said Hyder Beg
Khan in the obstruction by him given to the performance of the first and fundamental duty of all government,- namely, the administration of justice, and the protection of the lives and property of the subject
against wrong and violence.
XLIII. That the said Hastings did afterwards proceed to the length of criminating the Resident Bristow aforesaid for, his endeavors to establish the said necessary court, as an invasion of the rights of the
Nabob's government, - when, if the Nabob in his owll
proper person and character, and not the aforesaid
Hyder Beg, (who was a creature of the said Hastings,)
had opposed the reestablishment of justice in the said
country, it was the duty of the said Hastings to have
pressed the same upon him by every exertion of his
influence. And the said. Warren Hastings, in his
pretended attention to the Nabob's authority, when
exercised by his, the said Hastings's, minister, to
? ? ? ? [122 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
prevent the establishment of courts of justice for the
protection of life and property, at the same time that
he did not hesitate, in the case of the confiscation of
the jaghires, and the proceedings against the mother
and grandmother of the Nabob, totally to supersede
his authority, and to force his inclinations in acts
which overturned all the laws of property, and offered
violence to all the sentiments of natural affection and
duty, and accusing at the same time his instruments
for not going to the utmost lengths in the execution
of his said orders, is guilty of an high crime and mis
demeanor.
XLIV. That the said Hastings did highly aggravate
his offence in discountenancing and discouraging the
reestablishment of magistracy, law, and order, in the
country of Oude, inasmuch as he did in the eighth
article of his instructions to the Resident order him
to exercise powers which ought to have been exercised
by lawful magistrates, and in a manner agreeable to
law. And in the said article he did state the prevalence of rebellion in the said country of Oude,- as
if rebellion could exist in a country in which there
was no magistracy, and no protection for life or
property, and in which the native authority had no
force whatever, and in which he himself states the
exercise of British authority to be an absolute usurpation; and he did accordingly direct a rigorous prosecution against the offence of rebellion under such circumstances, but " with a fair and impartial inquiry," when he did not permit the establishment of
those courts of justice and magistracy by which alone
rebellion could be prevented, or a fair and impartial
inquiry relative to the same could be had; and par
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 123
ticularly he did instruct the said Resident to obtain
the Nabob's order for employing some sure means
for apprehending certain zemindars, and particularly three, in the instruction named, whom he, the said Hastings, did cause to be apprehended upon, what
he calls good information, founded upon some facts
to which he asserts he has the testimony of several witnesses, " that they had the destruction of Colonel Hannay and the officers under his command as their immediate object, and ultimately the extirpation of the English influence and power throughout all the Nabob's dominions," and that they did still persevere in their rebellious conduct without deviation, " though the Nabob's, and not our government, was then the object of it "; and he did direct the said Resident, if
it should appear, " on a fair and regular inquiry, that their conduct towards the Nabob had been such as it had been reported to be, to insist upon the Nabob's punishing them with death, and to treat with the same rigor every zemindar and every subject who shall be the leader in a rebellion against his authority. "
XLV. That the crime of the said Hastings, in his procedure aforesaid, was further highly aggravated
by his having received information of several striking circumstances which strongly indicated the necessity of a regular magistracy and a legal judicature, from the total failure of justice, affecting not only the subjects at large, but even the reigning family itself,
- as also of the causes why no legal magistracy could exist, and why the princes of the reigiiing family were not only exposed to the attacks of assassins, but even to a want of the protection which might be had from their servants and attendants, who were driven from
? ? ? ? 124 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
their masters for want of that maintenance which
the princes, their masters, could not procure even for
themselves. And thle circumstances aforesaid were
detailed to him, the said Hastings, by the Resident,
Bristow, in a letter from Lucknow, dated the 29th
January, 1784, to the Governor-General, the said
Warren Hastings, and the Council of Bengal, in the
terms following.
"The frequent robberies and murders perpetrated
in his Excellency's, the Vizier's, dominions, have been
too often the subject of my representations to your
honorable board. From the total want of police,
hardly a day elapses but I am informed of some
tragical event, whereof the bare recital is shocking to
humanity. About two months since, an attempt was
made to assassinate Rajah Ticket Roy, the acting
minister's confidential agent; but he happily escaped
unhurt. Nabob Bahadur, his Highness's brother, has
not been so fortunate, as will appear from translations
of two of his letters to me, No. 1, which I have the
honor to inclose for your information. Although my
feelings are sensibly hurt and my compassion strongly excited by the disgraceful and miserable state of poverty to which his Excellency's brothers are reduced, yet, situated as I am, it is not in my power to interfere
with effect. My efforts on a former occasion failed
of success, and my interposition now would only excite
the resentment of the minister towards the unhappy
sufferers, in consequence of their application to me, from
whom ALONE, however, they hope for relief from their
present distress, which, their near connection with the
Vizier considered, is both shameful and unprecedented. That no regular courts of justice have been
established in this country is particularly pointed at
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 125
in my instructions, as the most disreputable defect in
his Highness's government; yet the minister seems
determined on abolishing even the shadow of so necessary an institution. The office of Chief Justice, as
held by Moulavy Morobine, was ever nugatory, but
now it is sunk into the lowest contempt. The original establishment, inadequate as it was, is mouldering
away, and the officers now attached to it are literally
starving, as no part of their allowance has been paid
for above six months past. He himself has proposed
to resign his appointment, being every way precluded
from a possibility of exercising the duties of it. "
XLVI. That it appears by the said letter, and the
papers therewith transmitted, as well as other documents in the said correspondence, that, in consequence
of the distress brought upon the Nabob's finances, certain of the princes, hlis brethren, the children of Sujah
ul Dowlah, the late sovereign of the country, were
put upon pensions unsuitable to their birth and rank,
and by the mismanagement of the minister aforesaid, (appointed by the said Warren Hastings,) for
two years together no considerable part of the said
inadequate pension was paid; and not being able to
maintain the attendants necessary for their protection
in a city in which all magistracy and justice was abolished, they were not only liable to suffer the greatest
extremities of penury, but their lives were exposed to
the attempts of assassins: the condition of one of the
said princes, called the Nabob Bahadur, being by himself strongly expressed in three letters to the said Resident Bristow, - the first dated the 28th of December, 1783; the second, the 7th of January, 1784; and the
third, the 15th of January, 1784, -- which letters
? ? ? ? 126 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
were duly transmitted, in the dispatch of the 29th of
the same month, to Warren Hastings, Esquire, and are
as follow.
"Your own servant carried you the account of what
he himself was an eye-witness to, after the affair of
last night. These are the particulars. About midnigllt my aunt received twelve wounds from a ruffian,
of which she died. I also received six successive stabs,
which alarmed the people of the house, who set up a
shouting: whereupon the assassin run off. Besides
being without food or the means of providing any, this
misfortune has befallen me. I am desirous of sending
the coffin to your door. It is your duty, both for the
sake of God and of Christ, to execute justice, and to
inquire what harm I have done to the murderer sufficient to deserve assassination, or even injury. You now stand in the place of his _Excellency the Vizier. I request you will do me justice. What more can I say? "P. S. I am also desirous to show you my wounds. "
Prom the same, 29th [7th? ]January, 1784.
" You have been duly informed of all the circum
stances relative both to the murder of the innocent.
and of my being wounded, as well by my former letter, as by the messenger whom you sent to inquire into the state of my health; and I have every reason
to hope, from your known kindness, that you will not
be deficient in seeking out the assassin. I am at this
moment overwhelmed in misfortune. Whilst the blood
is flowing from my wounds, neither I nor my children
nor my servants have wherewithal to procure subsistence;
nor have I it in my power either to purchase remedies
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 127
or to reward the physician:'t is for the sake of God
alone that he attends me. Thus loaded with calamity
upon calamity, I am unable to support life; for I find
no relief from any affliction either day or night. Do
you now stand in the place of my father; grant me.
fiesh life by speedy acts of benevolence.
" For these two last years his Excellency established
a pension for me of twenty thousand rupees; but I
never received the full amount of it, either last year
or the year before. Should it, however, be paid me,
though inadequate to my desires, I shall still be enabled to support myself. From the beginning of this year to the present time I have not received a. farthing,
nor do I expect any; though, if you afford protection
to the oppressed, all my wishes will be accomplished.
I was desirous of waiting on you with my family,
that you might be an eye-witness to their condition;
but I was advised, not to stir out on account of my
wounds. What more can I say? '
The following Extracts are made from the Third Letter
from the same Prince, dated January 15, 1784.
"The, particulars of the late and unforeseen misfortune with which I have been overwhelmed are not unknown unto you, -that the inndcent blood of my
aunt, the prop and ruler of my family, was shed, and
in the same manner I, too, was wounded. Until now
I feel the pain and affliction of my wounds; and no
person has regarded my solicitations for redress; sought
after the assassin, and brought him to condign punishment, yourself excepted. " -"In like manner as the Honorable Governor-General has adopted my brother
Saadut Ali Khan for his son, and relieved him from
? ? ? ? 128 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the vexation, affliction, and dependence of this place,
would it be extraordinary that you also should, in
your bounty and favor, consent to adopt me, who do
not possess the necessaries of life, and permit me to
attend you to whatever part of the world you may
travel, whereby I sliall at all times derive honor and
advantage? Formnerly us three brothers, Saadut Ali,
Mirza Jungly, and I, the poor and oppressed, were, in
the presence of our blessed father, whose soul rests
in heaven, treated alike. Now the ministers of this
government put me upon a footing with our younger
brothers, who have lately left the zenanah, and whose
expenses are small. On this scale, which is in every
respect insufficient for my maintenance, they pay the
pitiful allowance only when it is their pleasure to do it.
My situation has for years past been increasing in
wretchedness to a degree that I am in wiant of daily
bread, andmy servants and animals are dying of hunger.
My distresses are so great that I have not been able to
pay a daum to the surgeons for the cure of my wounds;
and they, too, are discouraged from affording me their
assistance or furnishing me with medicines. How, then,
is it possible for me to exist? Considering you as my
patron, participating in my afflictions, I have represented the circumstances concerning my situation; and I hope, from your friendship, that you will honor
me with a favorable answer. "
XLVII. The Resident, Bristow, did also receive a
strong application from three others of the brethren of
the reigning sovereign, called Mirza Hyder Ali, Mirza
Ennayut Ali, and Mirza Syef Ali, representing their
very pitiable case, in a letter of the 9th of March,
1783, in which, among other particulars, are contained
the following.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 129
"Our situation is not fit to be represented. For
two years we have not received a hubba on account of
our tuncaw [assignment on the revenue], though the
ministers have annually charged a lac of rupees, and
never paid us anything. After all, we are the sons
of Sujah ul Dowlah! It is surprising, having such
a friend as you, our situation is arrived at that pass
that we should be in distress for dry bread and clothes.
Whereas you have done many generous acts, be
pleased so to show us your favor, that by some means
we may receive our allowances from the Company's
treasury, and not be obliged to depend upon and solicit others for it. "
XLVIII. That one of the princes aforesaid, called
the Mirza Jungly, about the beginning of the year
1783, was obliged to fly from the dominions of the
Nabob of Oude, and to leave. his country and connections; and as the Resident, Bristow, writing from Lucknow, hath observed, " he went to try his fortune
at other courts, in preference to starving at home,
which might have been his fate, by all accounts, at'
this place. " And the said prince sought for succor
at the court of one of the neighboring Mahomedan
princes; but conceiving some disgust at the treatment
he met with there, he departed from thence, and on
the 8th of February, 1783, arrived at the Mahratta
camp, while David Anderson, Esquire, was there in
the character of Minister Plenipotentiary to the Company, with a view, if his reception there should not prove answerable to his wishes, to pass on to the southward. And the said Anderson, probably considering this event as of very great importance to the honor of
the British government, as well as to its interest, on
VOL. IX. 9
? ? ? ? 130 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the one hand, by exhibiting the son and brother of a
sovereign prince, from whom the Company had received many millions of money, a fugitive from his country, and a wanderer for bread through the courts
of India, and, on the other, the consequences which
might arise from the Mabrattas having in their possession and under their influence a son of the late Nabob of Oude, did without delay advise Warren
Hastings, Esquire, of the event aforesaid; and he did
also write to Mr. Bristow, the Resident at the court
of the Nabob Vizier, several letters, of the 9th and
20th of February, and of the 6th of March and 6th of
April, 1783, in order that some steps should be taken
for his return and establishment in his own country.
And the said Anderson did inform the Resident, Bristow, in his letter aforesaid, that, on the arrival of the fugitive prince, brother of the reigning sovereign of
Oude, at the Mahratta camp, he did cause his tent to
be pitched close to that of Mr. Anderson; but finding
this not agreeable to the Mabratta general, Sindia,
he afterwards removed: and that he showed a strong
attachment to the English, and was inclined to throw
himself upon their generosity; that he was desirous
of going to Calcutta; and declared, that, if he, the
said Anderson, " would give him the smallest encouragement, he would quit all his followers,. and come alone, and would take up his residence under his
protection. " And the said Anderson did declare, that
he thought it " would be policy, and much to the credit of our government, that some provision should be made for Mirza Jungly in our territories. "
XLIX. That the said Bristow did represent the
aforesaid circumstances to Hyder Beg Khan, minister
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 131
to the Nabob of Oude, declaring it his opinion, " that
his Highness's brother's thus taking refuge with a
foreign prince is a reflection upon the Vizier, and it
would be advisable that an allowance should be granted
to him upon the footing of his brothers, that he might
remain in the presence. " But the Nabob was indu,ed
to refuse to his brother any offer of any allowance
beyond the two hundred pounds per month, allowed,
but not paid, to his other brothers,- and which the
said prince did observe to Mr. Anderson, " that it was
not only inadequate to his expenses, but infinitely
less" (as the truth was) " than what his Excellency
has settled on many persons of inferior rank, who
have not so good a claim to his support; and that it
would not be sufficient to enable him to live at Lucknow, where all his friends and relations were, and so
many of his inferiors lived in a state of affluence. "
In case, therefore, it could not be increased, he requested leave to live in the Company's provinces, or
at Calcutta; for that in any of these situations " he
could with less difficulty regulate his expenses. " And
he did declare, that, if his request was granted to him,
he would immediately quit all his prospects with Sindia. To these propositions he received a very discouraging answer from his brother's minister, containing a:positive and'final refusal of any increase of allowance,
obtaining only the Nabob's permission to retire into
the Company's provinces. But Mr. Anderson did
not think himself authorized to take any steps for the
prince's retreat into the said'province without Sindia's
concurrence, who, he observed, would use every art
to detain him, and accordingly did offer him the comnand of a battalion of infantry to be paid directly'orom his own treasury, and six thousand pounds ster
? ? ? ? 132 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ling a year for keeping up a corps of horse, and to
settle upon him a landed estate of four thousand
pounds a year as a provision for his wife and children:
which honorable offers it appears he did accept, and
did and doth remain in the Mahratta service.
L. That, during the whole course of this transaction, the said Warren Hastings was duly advised
thereof, first by a very early letter from the said Anderson, and afterwards by the Resident, Bristow, who,
on the 23d of April, 1783, transmitted to him his whole'correspondence with Mr. Anderson. But what answer or instructions the said Warren Hastings did give to Mr. Anderson does not appear, he not having
recorded anything upon that subject; but it appears
that to the Resident, Bristow, who required to be informed whether the reception of the fugitive prince
aforesaid in the Company's provinces would meet his
approbation, he gave no answer whatsoever: by which
criminal neglect, or worse, with regard to a brother
of an ally of the Company, who showed a strong attachment and preference to the English nation, and
by suffering him, without any known effort to prevent
-it, to attach himself to the cause and fortunes of the
Mahrattas, who, he, the said Hastings, well knew, did
keep up claims upon several parts of the dominions
of Oude, and had with difficulty been persuaded to
include the Nabob in the treaty of peace, he, having
suffered him first to languish at home in poverty, and
then to fly abroad for subsistence, and afterwards taking no step and countenancing no negotiations for his
return from his dangerous place of refuge, at the
same time that several of his, the said Hastings's,
creatures had each of them allowances much more
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 133
considerable than would have sufficed for the satisfaction and comfort of him, the said fugitive prince, was
guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor.
LI. That the indigent condition before related of
the other brothers of the Nabob was also duly transmitted to the said Warren Hastings; but he did never order or direct any steps whatsoever to be taken towards the relief of the family of a reigning prince,
who were daily in danger of perishing by famine
through the effect of his measures, and those of a person whom he supported in power against the will and
inclinations of the said prince and his family.
LII. That the foregoing instances of the penury,
distress, dispersion, and exile of the reigning family,
as well as the general disorder in all the affairs of
Oude, did strongly enforce the necessity of a proper
use of the British influence (the only real government
then existing) in the province aforesaid for a regulation of the economy of the Vizier's court, as well as
for the proper administration of the public concerns,
civil and military, which were in the greatest disorder;
and the said Warren Hastings was under obligation
to provide for the same, and did himself understand
it to be his duty so to do, and that he was therein
warranted by the spirit of the treaty of Chunar, as
well as by other universal pore rs of control, and
even of supersession, supposed by him to exist in the
relation between the British government and that of
Oude; and accordingly he did, in his instructions to
the Resident Middleton, to which he required his
most implicit obedience, direct him to an interference
in and control upon all the affairs concerning the rev
? ? ? ? 134 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
enues, the military arrangements, and all the other
branches of the Nabob's government.
LIII. That, upon his recall of the said Middleton,
he, in his instructions to the Resident Bristow, dated
23d of October, 1781 [1782? ], did at large set forth
the situation of the court and government of Oude,
the situation and character of the Nabob, of the acting
minister, and of the British Resident at that court, and
did plainly, distinctly, and without reserve, describe
the extent of the authority to be exercised by the last
of these persons, as well as the unqualified compliance
to be expected from the two former. And he did accordingly declare, that, "from the nature of our connection with the government of Oude, and from the Nabob's incapacity, a necessity will forever exist, while we have
the claim of a subsidy upon the resources of his country, of exercising an influence, and frequently substituting it ENTIRELY in the place of an avowed and constitutional authority, in the administration of his
[the Nabob's] government"; and he did further in the
said instructions, namely, in instruction the fourth,
direct the said Resident in the words following: "I
must have recourse to you for the introduction of
a new system in that government; nor can I omit,
whilst I express my reliance on you for that purpose,
to repeat the sentiments which I expressed in the verbal instructions which I gave you at your departure,
that there can be no medium in the relation between the
_Resident and the minister, but either the Resident must
be the slave and vassal of the minister, or the minister
at the absolute disposal of the Resident. " And he, the
said Hastings, did:state, in the same article of the instructions aforesaid, that, though the conduct of the
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 135
said Hyder Beg Khan had been highly reprehensible,
and that he was much displeased thereat, he would
prefer him to any other, on account of his ability and. knowledge of business, with the following proviso,"If he would submit to hold his office on such conditions as I require. He exists by his dependence on the ihfluence of our government. It must be advisable to try him. by the mode of conciliation; at the
same time that in your final conversation with him it
will be necessary to declare to him, in the plainest
terms, the footing and condition on which he shall be
permitted to retain his place, with the alternative of
a dismission, and a scrutiny into his conduct, if he
refuses it.
the same year, did again write to the Governor-General, the said Warren Hastings, a letter, in which he
expressed his constant friendship to. the Company,
and his submission and obedience to their orders, and
asserting that he had not troubled them with. any
of his difficulties, trusting they would learn them
from other quarters, and that he should be relieved
by their friendship. "But," he says, " when the
knife had penetrated to the bone, and I was surrounded
with such heavy distresses that I. could no longer live
in expectations, I then wrote an account of my difficulties. The answer I have received to it is such that
it has given me inexpressible grief and affliction. I
never had the least idea or expectation from: you and
the Council that you would. have given your orders
in so afflicting a manner, in which you never before
wrote, and I could never have imagined. I have delivered up all my private papers to him [the Resident],
that, after. examining my receipts and expenses, he
? ? ? ? 102 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
may take whatever remains. That, as I know it to
be my duty to satisfy you [the Company and Council], I have not failed to obey in any instance; but
requested of him that it might be done so as not to
distress me in my necessary expenses. There being
no other funds but those for the expenses of my mutseddies [clerks and accountants], household expenses,
and servants, &c. , he demanded these in such a manner, that, being remediless, I was obliged to comply
with what he required. He has accordingly stopped
the pensions of my old servants for thirty years, whether
sepoys [soldiers], mutseddies [secretaries and accountants], or household servants, and the expenses of my
family and kitchen, together with the jaghires of my
grandmother, mother, and aunts, and of my brothers and
defendants, which were for their support. "
XII. That, in answer to the letter aforesaid, the
Resident received from the said Warren Hastings and
Council an order to persevere in the demand to its
fullest extent, - that is to say, to the amount of
1,400,0001. sterling.
XIII. That on the 15th of May the Nabob replied,
complaining in an humble and suppliant manner of
his distressed situation: that he had at first opposed
the assigning to the use of the Company the estates
of his mother, of his grandmother, of one of his uncles, and of the sons of another, but that, in obedience to the injunctions of the gentlemen of the Council, it had been done, to the amount, on the whole, of 80,0001. sterling a year, or thereabouts; that whatever effects were in the country, with even his table,
his animals, and the salaries of his servants, were
? ? ? ? AGAINST. WARREN HASTINGS. 103
granted in assignments; that, besides these, if they
were resolved again to compel him to give up the estates of his parents and relations, which were granted
them for their maintenance, they were at the Company's disposal; saying, "If the Council have directed
you to attach them, do it: in the country no further
sources remain. I have no means; for I have not a
subsistence. - How long shall I dwell upon my misfortunes? "
XIV. That the truth of the said remonstrances
was not disputed, nor the tone in which they were
written complained of, the same being submissive,
and even abject, though the cause (his distresses)
was by the said Hastings, in a great degree, and in
terms the most offensive, attributed to the Nabob
himself; but no relief was given, and the same unwarrantable establishments, maintained at the same
ruinous expense, were kept up.
XV. That the said Warren Hastings, having considered as incendiaries those who advised the remonstrances aforesaid, and, to prevent the same in future, having denounced vengeance on those concerned therein, did, for the purpose of keeping in his own
power all representations of the state of the court and
country aforesaid, and to subject both the one and
the other to his own arbitrary will, and to draw to
himself and to his creatures the management of the
Nabob's revenues, in defiance of the orders of tlie
Court of Directors, a second time recall Mr. Bristow,
tile Company's Resident, from the court of Oude, -
hlavilg once before recalled him, as the said Directors
express themselves, " without the shadow of a charge
? ? ? ? 104 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
being exhibited against him," and having, on tlie occasion and time now stated, produced no specific charge against the said Resident; and he, the said
Hastings, did appoint Nathaniel Middleton, Esquire,
to succeed him,- it being his declared principle, that
he must have a person of his own confidence in that
situation.
XVI. That the said Warren Hastings, after he
hlad refused all relief to the distresses of the Nabob in
the manner aforesaid, and had described those who
advised the representation of the grievances of Oude
as incendiaries, did himself, in a minute of the 21st
May, 1781, describe that province " as fallen into a
state of great disorder and confusion, and its resources in an extraordinary degree diminished," -- and did state, that his presence in the said province
was requested by the Nabob, and that, unless some
effectual measures were taken for his relief, he [the
Nabob] must be under the necessity of leaving his
country, and coming down to Calcutta, to represent
the situation of his government. And Mr. Wheler
did declare that the Governor-General's representation of the state of that province "' was but too well founded, and was convinced that it would require his
utmost abilities and powers, applied and exercised on
the spot, to restore it to its former good order and
affluence. "
XVII. That the said Warren Hastings, in consequence of the minute aforesaid, did grant to himself,
and did procure the consent of his only colleague,
Edward Wheler, Esquire, to a commission or delegation, with, powers. "to assist the Nabob Vizier in
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 105
forming such regulations as may be necessary for the
peace and good order of his government, the improvement of his revenue, and the adjustment of the mutual concerns subsisting between him and the Company. " And in the said commission or delegation he,
the said Warren HIastings, did cause to be inserted
certain powers and provisions of a new and dangerous nature: that is to say, reciting the business before
mentioned, he did convey to himself " such authority to enforce the same as the G'overnor- General and
Council might or could exeiecise on occasions in which
they could be warranted to exercise the same, and to
fbrm and conclude such several engagements or treaties with the Nabob Vizier, the government of Berar,
and with any chiefs or powers of Hindostan, as he
should judge expedient and necessary. " Towards
the conclusion of the act or instrument aforesaid are
the words following, viz. : "It is hereby declared,
that all such acts, and all such engagements or treaties aforesaid, shall be binding on the Governor-General and Council in the same manner, and as effectually, as if they had been done and passed by the specific and immediate concurrence and actual junction of the
Glovernor-General and Council in council assembled. "
And the said powers were, by the said Warren Hast,
ings, given by himself and the said Wheler, under
the seal of the Company, on the 3d July, 1781.
XVIII. That the said commission, delegating to
him, the said Warren Hastings, the whole functions
of the Council, is destructive to the constitution
thereof, and is contrary to the Company's standing
orders, and is illegal.
? ? ? ? 106 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
XIX. That, in virtue of those powers, and the illegal delegation aforesaid, the said Warren Hastings,
after he had finished his business at Benares, did procure a meeting with the Nabob of Oude at a place called Chunar, upon the confines of the country of
Benares, and did there enter into a treaty, or pre
tended treaty, with the said Nabob; one part of
which the said Warren Hastings did pretend was
drawn up from a series of requisitions presented to
him by the Nabob, but which requisitions, or any
copy thereof, or of any other material document relative thereto, he did not at the time transmit to the Presidency, -the said Warren Hastings informing
Mr. Wheler, that the Resident, Middleton, had taken
the authentic papers relative to this transaction with
him to Lucknow: and it does not appear that the
said Warren Hastings did ever reclaim the said papers, in order to record them at the Presidency, to
be transmitted to the Court of Directors, as it was
his duty to do.
XX. That the purport of certain articles of the
said treaty, on the part of the Company, was, that, in
consideration of the Nabob's inability (which inability the preamble of the treaty asserts to have been "repeatedly and urgently represented ") to support
the expenses of the temporary brigade, and of three
regiments of cavalry, and also of the British officers
with their battalions, and of other gentlemen who
were then paid by him, the several corps aforesaid,
and the other gentlemen, (with the exception of the
Resident's office then on the Nabob's list, and a regiment of sepoys for the Resident's guard,) should, after a term of two and a half months, be no longer at his,
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 107
the Nabob's, charge: " the true meaning of this being,
that no more troops than one brigade, and the pay and
allowances of a regiment of sepoys," (as aforesaid, to
the Resident,) amounting in the whole to 342,0001. a
year, should be paid by the Nabob; and that no officers,
troops, or others, should be put upon the Nabob's establishment, exclusive of those in the said treaty stipulated.
XXI. That the said Warren Hastings did defend
and justify the said articles, in which the troops aforesaid were to be removed from the Nabob's establishment, by declaring as follows. " That the actual disbursements to those troops had fallen upon our own funds, and that we support a body of troops, established solely for the defence of the Nabob's possessions,
at our own expense. It is true, we charge the Nabob
with this expense; but the large balance already due
from him shows too justly the little prospect there was
of disengaging ourselves from a burden which was
daily adding to our distresses and must soon become
insupportable, although it were granted that the Nabob's debt, then suffered to accumulate, might at some
future period be liquidated, and that this measure
would substantially effect an instant relief to the pecuniary distresses of the Company. "
XXII. That Nathaniel Middleton, the Resident,
did also declare that he would at all times testify,
"that, upon the plan of the foregoing years, the
receipts from the Nabob were only a deception, and
not an advantage, but an injury to the Company," and
"that a remission to the Nabob of this insufferable
burden was a profit to the Company. " And the said
? ? ? ? 108 ARTICLES'OF CHARGE
Hastings did assert that the force of the Company was
not lessened by withdrawing the temporary troops;
although, when it suited the purpose of the said Hastings, in denying just relief to the distresses of the said
Nabob of Oude, he had not scrupled to assert the
direct contrary of the positions by him maintained in
justification of the treaty of Chunar, -having in his
minute aforesaid, of the 15th of December, 1779,
asserted, "that these troops" (the troops maintained. by the Nabob of Oude) "had. no separate or distinct
existence, and may be properly said to consist of our
whole military establishment, with the exception only
of our European infantry, and that they could not be
withdrawn, without imnposing on the Company the additional burden of their expense, or disbanding nine battalions of disciplined sepoys and three regiments of'horse. " XXIII. That he, the said Warren Hastings, in
justification of his agreement to withdraw the troops
aforesaid from the territories and pay of the Nabob
of Oude, did further declare, " that he had been too
much accustomed to the tales of hostile preparation
-and impending invasions, against. all the evidence of
political probability, to regard them as any other than
phantoms raised for the purpose of perpetuating or
multiplying commands," and he did trust "~ all ideas
of danger from the neighboring powers were altogether visionary; and that, even if they had been better founded, this mode of anticipating possible evils
would be more mischievous than anything they had
reason to apprehend," and that the internal state of
the Nabob's dominions did not require the continuance
of the said troops; and that the Nabob, "whose concern
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 109
it was, and not ours," did affirm the same, - notwithstanding he, the said Hastings, had before, in answer
to the humble supplications of the Nabob, asserted,
that " it was our part, and not his, to judge and determine in what manner and at what time they should
be reduced or withdrawn. "
XXIV. That the said Warren Hastings, in support
of his measure of withdrawing the said brigade and
other troops, did also represent, that "the remote
stations of those troops, placing the commanding officers beyond the notice and control of the board, afforded too much opportunity and temptation for unwarrantable emoluments, and excited the contagion of peculation and rapacity throughout the whole army,
and;,'as an instance thereof, that a court-martial, composed of officers of rank and respectable characters,
unanimously and honorably,'most honorably,' acquitted an officer upon an acknowledged fact which
in times of stricter discipline would have been deemed
a crime deserving the severest punishment. "
XXV. That the said Warren Hastings, having in
the letter aforesaid contradicted all the grounds and
reasons by him assigned for keeping up the aforesaid
establishment, and having declared his owni conviction
that the whole was a fallacy and imposition, and a
detriment to the Company instead of a benefit, circumstances (if they are true) which he might and
ought to have well known, was guilty of an high crime
and misdemeanor in carrying on the imposture and
delusion aforesaid, and in continuing an insupportable burden and grievance upon the Nabob for several
years, without attending to his repeated supplications
? ? ? ? 11. 0 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
to be relieved therefrom, to the utter ruin of his country, and to the destruction of the discipline of the
British troops, by diffusing among them. a general
spirit of peculation; and the said Hastings hath committed a grievous offence in upholding the same pernicious system, until, by his own confession and declaration, in his minute of the 21st of May, 1781, " the evils had grown to so great an height, that exertions will be required more powerful than can be
made through the delegated authority of the servants of the Company now in the province, and that
he was far from sanguine in his expectations that
even his own endeavors would be attended with much
sucess88. "
XXVI. That, at the time of making the said treaty,
and at the time when, under color of the distress of
the Nabob of Oude, and the failure of all other means
for his relief, he, the said Hastings, broke the Company's faith with the parents of the Nabob, and first
encouraged and afterwards compelled him to despoil
them of their landed estates, money, jewels, and household goods, and while the said Nabob continued
heavily in debt to the Company, he, the said Warren
Hastings, did, " without hesitation," accept of and
receive from the Nabob of Oude and his ministers
(who are notoriously known to be not only under his
influence, but under his absolute command) a bribe,
or unlawful gift or present, of one hundred thousand
pounds sterling, and upwards. That, even if the said
pretended gift could be supposed to be voluntary, it
was contrary to the express provision of the Regulating
Act of the 13th year of his Majesty's reign, prohibiting
the receipt of all presents upon any pretence whatso
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 111
ever, and contrary to his own sense of the true intent
and meaning of the said act, declared upon a similar,
but not so strong a case, - that is, where the service
done, and the present offered in return for it, had
taken place before the promulgation of the above laws
in India: on that occasion he declared, " that the exclusion by an act of Parliament admitted of no abatement or evasion, wherever its authority extended. " XXVII. That the said Warren Hastings, confiding
in an interest which he supposed himself to have
formed in the East India House, did endeavor to prevail on the Court of Directors to violate the said act,
and to suffer him to appropriate the money so illegally accepted by him to his own profit, as a reward
for his services.
XXVIII. That the said Warren Hastings has since
declared to the Court of Directors, that, when fortune
threw a sum in his way (meaning the sum of money
above mentioned) of a magnitude which could not be
concealed, he chose to apprise his employers of it:
thereby confessing, that, but for the magnitude of the
same rendering it difficult to be concealed, he never
would have discovered it to them. And the said unlawful present being received at the time when, for
reasons directly contradictory of all his former recorded declarations, he did agree to remnove the aforesaid
troops from the Nabob's dominions, and to recall the
pensioners aforesaid, it must be presumed that he
did not agree to give the relief (which he had before
so obstinately refused) upon the grounds and motives
of justice, policy, or humanity, but in consideration
* See his letter of the 11th July, 1785, at the end of the Charges.
? ? ? ? 112 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
of the sum of money aforesaid, which, in a time of
such extreme distress in the Nabob's affairs, could not
be rationally given, except for those and other concessions stipulated for in the said treaty, but which had on former occasions been refused.
XXIX. That, notwithstanding his, the said Warren Hastings's, receipt of the present of one hundred thousand pounds, as aforesaid, he did violate every
one of the stipulations in the said treaty contained, and
particularly he did continue in the country, and in
the service of the Nabob of Oude, those troops which
he had so:recently stipulated to withdraw from his
country and to take from his establishment: for, upon the 24th of December following, he did order the temporary brigade, making ten battalions of five hundred men each, to be again put on the Vizier's list, although he had recently informed the Court of Directors, through Edward Wheler, Esquire, that any benefit to be derived from the Nabob's paying that
brigade was a fallacy and a deception, and that the
same was a charye upon the Company, and not an
alleviatiorn of its distresses, as well as an insupportable
burden to the Nabob: thus having, within a short
space of time, twice contradicted himself, both in declaration and in conduct.
XXX. That this measure, in direct violation of a
treaty of not three months' duration, was so injudicious, that, in the opinion of the Assistant Resident, Johnson,' nothing less than blows could effect it":
he, the said Resident, further adding, " that the Nabob
was not even able to pay off the arrears still due to it
[the new brigade]; and that the troops being all in
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 113
arrears, and lno possibility of present payment, so large
a body assembled here [viz. , at Lucknow] without any
means to check and control them, nothing but disorder could follow. As one proof that the Nabob is as badly off for funds as we are, I may inform you that
his cavalry rose this day upon him, and went all armed
to the palace, to demand from thirteen to eighteen
months' arrears, and were with great difficulty persuaded to retire, which was probably more effected by a body of troops getting under arms to go against
them than any other consideration. " But the letter of
Warren Hastings, Esquire, of the 24th of December,
giving the above orders for the infraction of the treaty,
and to which the letter from whence the foregoing
extracts are taken is anll answer, doth not appear, any
otherwise than as the same is recited ill the said answer.
XXXI. That, notwithstanding the disorders and
deficiencies in the revenue aforesaid had continued
and increased, and that three very large balances
had accumulated, the said Warren Hastings did
cause the Treasury accounts at Calcutta to be examined and scrutinized, and an account of another arrear, composed of various articles, pretended to
have accumulated during seven years previous to the
year 1779, (the articles composing which, if they had
been just, ought to have been charged at the times
they severally became due,) was sent to the Resident,
and payment thereof demanded, to the amount of
260,0001. sterling; which unexpected demand, in so
distressed a situation, did not a little embarrass the
Nabob. But whilst he and his ministers were examining into the said unexpected demand, another, and VOL. IX. 8
? ? ? ? 114 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
fifth balance, made up of similar forgotten articles
was demanded, to the amount of 140,0001. sterling
more. Which said two last demands did so terrify
and confound the Nabob and his ministers, that they
declared that the Resident "might at once take the
country, since justice was out of the question. "
XXXII. That the said Hastings, in order to add
to the confusion, perplexity, and distress of the Nabob's affairs, did send to his court (in which he had
already a Resident and Assistant Resident) two secret agents, Major Palmer and Major Davy, and did
instruct Major Palmer to make a variety of new
claims, one. of a loan to the Company of 600,0001.
sterling, although he well knew the Nabob was himself heavily in arrear to the Company, and was utterly unable to discharge the same, as well as in arrear to his own troops, and to many individuals, and
that he borrowed (when he could at all borrow) at
an interest of near tlhirty per cent. To this demand
was added a new bribe, or unlawful present, to himself, to the amount of 100,0001. sterling, which he
did not refuse as unlawful and of evil example, but
as indelicate in the Nabob's present situation, -- and
did, as if the same was his own property, presume
to dispose of it, and to desire the transfer of it, as of
his own bounty, to the Company, his masters. To
this second demand he, the said Hastings, added a
third demand of 120,0001. sterling, for four additional regiments on the Nabob's list, after he had solemnly engaged to take off the ten with which it had been burdened: the whole of the claims through his
private agent aforesaid making the sum of 820,0001.
sterling.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 115
XXXIII. That the demands, claims, &c. , made by
the said Warren Hastings upon the government of
Oude in that year amounted to the enormous sum
of 2,530,0001. sterling; which joined to the arrears,
to troops, and some internal failures, amounting to
255,0001. sterling more, the whole charge arose to
2,785,0001. sterling, which was considerably more
than double the net produce of the Nabob's revenue,
- the same only amounting to 1,450,0001. "nominal revenue, never completely realized. "
XXXIV. That, towards providing for these extravagant demands, he, the said Warren Hastings,
did direct and authorize another breach. of the public faith given in the treaty of Chunar. For whereas,
by the second article of the treaty aforesaid, it was
left to the Nabob's discretion whether or not he should
resume the landed estates, called jaghires, within his
dominions, and notwithstanding the said Hastings, in
defence of the said article, did declare that the Nabob should be left to the exercise of his own authority and pleasure respecting them, yet he, the said Hastings, did authorize a violent compulsion to be
used towards the said Nabob for accomplishing an
universal confiscation of that species of landed property; and in so doing he did also compel the Nabob
to break his faith with all the landholders of that
description, not only in violating the assurance of his
own original grants, but his assurance recently given,
when, being pressed by the Company, he, the Nabob,
had made a temporary seizure of the profits of the
lands aforesaid, in the manner of a compulsory loan,
for the repayment of which he gave his bonds and obligations; and although he had at the same time sol
? ? ? ? 116 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
emnly pledged his faith that he never would again
resort to the like oppressive measure, yet he, the said.
Warren Hastings, did cause him to be compelled to
confiscate the estates of at least sixty-seven' of the
principal persons of his country, comprehending therein his own nearest relations and the ancient friends and dependants of his family: the annual value of the
said estates thus confiscated amounting to 435,0001.
sterling, or thereabouts, upon an old valuation, but
stated by the Resident, Middleton, as being found to
yield considerably more.
XXXV. That the violent and unjust measure
aforesaid, subversive of property, utterly destructive
of several ancient and considerable families, and most
dishonorable to the British government, did produce
an universal discontent and the greatest confusion
throughout the whole country, - the said confiscated
lands being on this occasion put to rack-rents, and the
people grievously oppressed: and to prevent a possibility of redress, at least for a considerable time, the said confiscated estates were mortgaged (it appearing
otherwise impracticable to make an approach towards
satisfying the exorbitant demands of the said Hastings) for a great sum t6 certain usurious bankers or money-dealers at Benares.
XXXVI. That, besides these enormous demands,
which were in part made for the support of several
corps of troops under British officers which by the
treaty of Chunar ought to have been removed, very
large extra charges not belonging to the military list
of the said Nabob, and several civil charges and pensions, were continued, and others newly put on since
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 117
the treaty of Chunar, namely, an allowance to Sir
Eyre Coote of 15,554 rupees per month, (being upwards of 18,6641. sterling a year,) and an allowance
to Trevor Wheler, Esquire, of 5,000 rupees per month
(or 6,0001. sterling and upwards a year); and the
whole of the settled charges, not of a military nature, to British subjects, did amount to little less than
140,0001. yearly, and, if other allowances not included in the estimate were added, would greatly exceed that sum, besides much more which may justly be suspected to have been paid, no part whereof had at that time been brought forward to any public
account.
XXXVII. That the commander of one of these
corps, of whose burden the said Nabob did complain,
was Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Hannay, who did
farm the revenues of certain districts called Baraitch
and Goruckpore, which the said Hastings, in the ninth
article of his instructions to Mr. Bristow, did estimate
at twenty-three lacs of rupees, or 230,0001. , per annum: but under his, the said Hannay's, management,
the collections did very greatly decline; complaints
were made that the countries aforesaid were harassed
and oppressed, and the same did fall into confusion,
and at last the inhabitants broke out into a general
rebellion.
XXXVIII. That the far greater part of the said
heavy list was authorized or ordered by him, the said
Warren Hastings, for the purpose of extending his
own corrupt influence: for it doth appear, that, at
the time when he did pretend, in conformity to the
treaty of Chunar aforesaid, to remove the Company's
? ? ? ? 118 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
servants, " civil and military, from the court and service of the Vizier," he did assert that he thereby did
" diminish his own influence, as well as that of his colleagues, by narrowing the line of patronage "; which
proves that the offices, pensions, and other emoluments aforesaid, in Oude, were of his patronage, as
his patronage could not be diminished by taking away
the said offices, &c.
, unless the same had been substantially of his gift. And he did, at the time of the
pretended reformation aforesaid, express both his
knowledge of the existence of the said excessive and
abusive establishments, and his sense of his duty in
taking them away: for in agreeing to the article in
the treaty of Chunar for abolishing the said establishments, he did declare himself " actuated solely by motives of justice to the Nabob, and a regard to the honor of our national character"; and, according to
his own representation, the said servants of the Company, civil and military, "' by their numbers, their influence, and the enormous amount of their salaries, pensions, and emoluments, were an intolerable burden
on the revenues and authority of the Vizier, and exposed us to the envy and resentment of the whole country, by excluding the native servants and adherents of the Vizier from the rewards of their services and
attachment. "
XXXIX. That the revenue of the country being
anticipated, mortgaged, and dilapidated, by the counsel, concurrence, connivance, and influence, and often
by the direct order of the said Warren Hastings,
the whole civil government, magistracy, and administration of justice gradually declined and at length
totally ceased through the whole of the vast provinces
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 119
which compose the territory of Oude, and no power
was visible therein but that of the farmers of the rev.
enue, attended by bodies of troops to enforce the collections; insomuch that robberies, assassinations, and
acts of every description of outrage and violence were
perpetrated with impunity, - and even in the capital
city of Lucknow, the seat of the sovereign power,
there was no court of justice whatever to take cognizance of such offences.
XL. That the said Warren Hastings, when he did
interfere in the government of Oude, was obliged by
his duty to interfere for-the good purposes of government, and not' merely for the purpose of extorting
money therefrom and enriching his own dependants,
which latter purpose alone he did effect, in the manner before mentioned, but not one of the former. For
the said Iastings, having procured' the extraordinary
powers given by and to himself by his delegation of
the 3d of July, 1781, did declare the same to be for
the purpose, among many others, " of assisting the
Nabob Vizier in forming such regulations as may be
necessary for the peace and good order of his government and the improvement of his revenue. " And in
consequence of the said powers, the said Warren
Hastings did, in the treaty of ChuInar, obtain an article from the Nabob by which the said Nabob did promise to attend to his' advice in the reformation of his civil administration; and he did give certain instructions to the Resident, Middleton, to which lie did
require him to yield the most implicit obedience, and
did in one article thereof direct him to urge the Nabob to endeavor gradually; if it could not be doie at
once, to establish courts of aclzw! ut [justice], and that
? ? ? ? 120 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the darogahs chief criminal magistrates], moulavies
[consulting or assistant lawyers], and other officers,
should be selected by the ministers, with his, the
Resident's, concurrence; and afterwards, in his instructions to the Resident Bristow, desiring him to
pursue the same object, he declared his opinion, " that
the want of such cou. rts, and the extreme licentiousness occasioned thereby, is one of the most disreputable defects in his Highness the Nabob's government, and that, while they do not exist, every man knows
the hazard which he incurs in lending his money";
but he did give him, the said Resident, no positive
instruction concerning the same, supposing the establishment of such courts a matter of difficulty, and
did therefore leave him a latitude in his proceedings
therein.
XLI. That the said Resident Bristow did, however, in conformity to the said instructions, at last
given with such latitude, endeavor to prevail on the
said minister gradually to introduce courts of justice
for the cognizance of crimes, by beginning to establish
a criminal court under a native judge, to judge according to the Mahomedan law in the city of Lucknow.
But Hyder Beg Khan, a minister of the said Warren
Hastings's nomination, and solely dependent upon
him, did elude and obstruct, and in the end totally
defeat, the establishment of the same.
XLII. That the obstruction aforesaid, and the evil
consequences thereof, were duly represented to the
said Hastings; and though the said Hastings had
made it the fourth article of a criminal charge against
the Resident Middleton, "'that he did not report to
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 121
the Governor-General, or to the board, the progress
which he had made from time to time in his endeavors
to comply with his instructions, and that, if lie met
with any impediments in the execution of them, he
had omitted to state those impediments, and to apply
for fresh orders upon them," yet he, the said Hastings,
did give no manner of support to the Resident Bris
tow against the said Hyder Beg Khan, and did not
even answer several of his letters, the said Bristow's
letters, stating the said impediments, or take any notice of his remonstrances, but did at length revoke
his own instructions, declaring that he, the said Resident, should not presume to act upon the same, and
yet did not furnish him with any others, upon which
he might act, but did uphold the said Hyder Beg
Khan in the obstruction by him given to the performance of the first and fundamental duty of all government,- namely, the administration of justice, and the protection of the lives and property of the subject
against wrong and violence.
XLIII. That the said Hastings did afterwards proceed to the length of criminating the Resident Bristow aforesaid for, his endeavors to establish the said necessary court, as an invasion of the rights of the
Nabob's government, - when, if the Nabob in his owll
proper person and character, and not the aforesaid
Hyder Beg, (who was a creature of the said Hastings,)
had opposed the reestablishment of justice in the said
country, it was the duty of the said Hastings to have
pressed the same upon him by every exertion of his
influence. And the said. Warren Hastings, in his
pretended attention to the Nabob's authority, when
exercised by his, the said Hastings's, minister, to
? ? ? ? [122 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
prevent the establishment of courts of justice for the
protection of life and property, at the same time that
he did not hesitate, in the case of the confiscation of
the jaghires, and the proceedings against the mother
and grandmother of the Nabob, totally to supersede
his authority, and to force his inclinations in acts
which overturned all the laws of property, and offered
violence to all the sentiments of natural affection and
duty, and accusing at the same time his instruments
for not going to the utmost lengths in the execution
of his said orders, is guilty of an high crime and mis
demeanor.
XLIV. That the said Hastings did highly aggravate
his offence in discountenancing and discouraging the
reestablishment of magistracy, law, and order, in the
country of Oude, inasmuch as he did in the eighth
article of his instructions to the Resident order him
to exercise powers which ought to have been exercised
by lawful magistrates, and in a manner agreeable to
law. And in the said article he did state the prevalence of rebellion in the said country of Oude,- as
if rebellion could exist in a country in which there
was no magistracy, and no protection for life or
property, and in which the native authority had no
force whatever, and in which he himself states the
exercise of British authority to be an absolute usurpation; and he did accordingly direct a rigorous prosecution against the offence of rebellion under such circumstances, but " with a fair and impartial inquiry," when he did not permit the establishment of
those courts of justice and magistracy by which alone
rebellion could be prevented, or a fair and impartial
inquiry relative to the same could be had; and par
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 123
ticularly he did instruct the said Resident to obtain
the Nabob's order for employing some sure means
for apprehending certain zemindars, and particularly three, in the instruction named, whom he, the said Hastings, did cause to be apprehended upon, what
he calls good information, founded upon some facts
to which he asserts he has the testimony of several witnesses, " that they had the destruction of Colonel Hannay and the officers under his command as their immediate object, and ultimately the extirpation of the English influence and power throughout all the Nabob's dominions," and that they did still persevere in their rebellious conduct without deviation, " though the Nabob's, and not our government, was then the object of it "; and he did direct the said Resident, if
it should appear, " on a fair and regular inquiry, that their conduct towards the Nabob had been such as it had been reported to be, to insist upon the Nabob's punishing them with death, and to treat with the same rigor every zemindar and every subject who shall be the leader in a rebellion against his authority. "
XLV. That the crime of the said Hastings, in his procedure aforesaid, was further highly aggravated
by his having received information of several striking circumstances which strongly indicated the necessity of a regular magistracy and a legal judicature, from the total failure of justice, affecting not only the subjects at large, but even the reigning family itself,
- as also of the causes why no legal magistracy could exist, and why the princes of the reigiiing family were not only exposed to the attacks of assassins, but even to a want of the protection which might be had from their servants and attendants, who were driven from
? ? ? ? 124 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
their masters for want of that maintenance which
the princes, their masters, could not procure even for
themselves. And thle circumstances aforesaid were
detailed to him, the said Hastings, by the Resident,
Bristow, in a letter from Lucknow, dated the 29th
January, 1784, to the Governor-General, the said
Warren Hastings, and the Council of Bengal, in the
terms following.
"The frequent robberies and murders perpetrated
in his Excellency's, the Vizier's, dominions, have been
too often the subject of my representations to your
honorable board. From the total want of police,
hardly a day elapses but I am informed of some
tragical event, whereof the bare recital is shocking to
humanity. About two months since, an attempt was
made to assassinate Rajah Ticket Roy, the acting
minister's confidential agent; but he happily escaped
unhurt. Nabob Bahadur, his Highness's brother, has
not been so fortunate, as will appear from translations
of two of his letters to me, No. 1, which I have the
honor to inclose for your information. Although my
feelings are sensibly hurt and my compassion strongly excited by the disgraceful and miserable state of poverty to which his Excellency's brothers are reduced, yet, situated as I am, it is not in my power to interfere
with effect. My efforts on a former occasion failed
of success, and my interposition now would only excite
the resentment of the minister towards the unhappy
sufferers, in consequence of their application to me, from
whom ALONE, however, they hope for relief from their
present distress, which, their near connection with the
Vizier considered, is both shameful and unprecedented. That no regular courts of justice have been
established in this country is particularly pointed at
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 125
in my instructions, as the most disreputable defect in
his Highness's government; yet the minister seems
determined on abolishing even the shadow of so necessary an institution. The office of Chief Justice, as
held by Moulavy Morobine, was ever nugatory, but
now it is sunk into the lowest contempt. The original establishment, inadequate as it was, is mouldering
away, and the officers now attached to it are literally
starving, as no part of their allowance has been paid
for above six months past. He himself has proposed
to resign his appointment, being every way precluded
from a possibility of exercising the duties of it. "
XLVI. That it appears by the said letter, and the
papers therewith transmitted, as well as other documents in the said correspondence, that, in consequence
of the distress brought upon the Nabob's finances, certain of the princes, hlis brethren, the children of Sujah
ul Dowlah, the late sovereign of the country, were
put upon pensions unsuitable to their birth and rank,
and by the mismanagement of the minister aforesaid, (appointed by the said Warren Hastings,) for
two years together no considerable part of the said
inadequate pension was paid; and not being able to
maintain the attendants necessary for their protection
in a city in which all magistracy and justice was abolished, they were not only liable to suffer the greatest
extremities of penury, but their lives were exposed to
the attempts of assassins: the condition of one of the
said princes, called the Nabob Bahadur, being by himself strongly expressed in three letters to the said Resident Bristow, - the first dated the 28th of December, 1783; the second, the 7th of January, 1784; and the
third, the 15th of January, 1784, -- which letters
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were duly transmitted, in the dispatch of the 29th of
the same month, to Warren Hastings, Esquire, and are
as follow.
"Your own servant carried you the account of what
he himself was an eye-witness to, after the affair of
last night. These are the particulars. About midnigllt my aunt received twelve wounds from a ruffian,
of which she died. I also received six successive stabs,
which alarmed the people of the house, who set up a
shouting: whereupon the assassin run off. Besides
being without food or the means of providing any, this
misfortune has befallen me. I am desirous of sending
the coffin to your door. It is your duty, both for the
sake of God and of Christ, to execute justice, and to
inquire what harm I have done to the murderer sufficient to deserve assassination, or even injury. You now stand in the place of his _Excellency the Vizier. I request you will do me justice. What more can I say? "P. S. I am also desirous to show you my wounds. "
Prom the same, 29th [7th? ]January, 1784.
" You have been duly informed of all the circum
stances relative both to the murder of the innocent.
and of my being wounded, as well by my former letter, as by the messenger whom you sent to inquire into the state of my health; and I have every reason
to hope, from your known kindness, that you will not
be deficient in seeking out the assassin. I am at this
moment overwhelmed in misfortune. Whilst the blood
is flowing from my wounds, neither I nor my children
nor my servants have wherewithal to procure subsistence;
nor have I it in my power either to purchase remedies
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 127
or to reward the physician:'t is for the sake of God
alone that he attends me. Thus loaded with calamity
upon calamity, I am unable to support life; for I find
no relief from any affliction either day or night. Do
you now stand in the place of my father; grant me.
fiesh life by speedy acts of benevolence.
" For these two last years his Excellency established
a pension for me of twenty thousand rupees; but I
never received the full amount of it, either last year
or the year before. Should it, however, be paid me,
though inadequate to my desires, I shall still be enabled to support myself. From the beginning of this year to the present time I have not received a. farthing,
nor do I expect any; though, if you afford protection
to the oppressed, all my wishes will be accomplished.
I was desirous of waiting on you with my family,
that you might be an eye-witness to their condition;
but I was advised, not to stir out on account of my
wounds. What more can I say? '
The following Extracts are made from the Third Letter
from the same Prince, dated January 15, 1784.
"The, particulars of the late and unforeseen misfortune with which I have been overwhelmed are not unknown unto you, -that the inndcent blood of my
aunt, the prop and ruler of my family, was shed, and
in the same manner I, too, was wounded. Until now
I feel the pain and affliction of my wounds; and no
person has regarded my solicitations for redress; sought
after the assassin, and brought him to condign punishment, yourself excepted. " -"In like manner as the Honorable Governor-General has adopted my brother
Saadut Ali Khan for his son, and relieved him from
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the vexation, affliction, and dependence of this place,
would it be extraordinary that you also should, in
your bounty and favor, consent to adopt me, who do
not possess the necessaries of life, and permit me to
attend you to whatever part of the world you may
travel, whereby I sliall at all times derive honor and
advantage? Formnerly us three brothers, Saadut Ali,
Mirza Jungly, and I, the poor and oppressed, were, in
the presence of our blessed father, whose soul rests
in heaven, treated alike. Now the ministers of this
government put me upon a footing with our younger
brothers, who have lately left the zenanah, and whose
expenses are small. On this scale, which is in every
respect insufficient for my maintenance, they pay the
pitiful allowance only when it is their pleasure to do it.
My situation has for years past been increasing in
wretchedness to a degree that I am in wiant of daily
bread, andmy servants and animals are dying of hunger.
My distresses are so great that I have not been able to
pay a daum to the surgeons for the cure of my wounds;
and they, too, are discouraged from affording me their
assistance or furnishing me with medicines. How, then,
is it possible for me to exist? Considering you as my
patron, participating in my afflictions, I have represented the circumstances concerning my situation; and I hope, from your friendship, that you will honor
me with a favorable answer. "
XLVII. The Resident, Bristow, did also receive a
strong application from three others of the brethren of
the reigning sovereign, called Mirza Hyder Ali, Mirza
Ennayut Ali, and Mirza Syef Ali, representing their
very pitiable case, in a letter of the 9th of March,
1783, in which, among other particulars, are contained
the following.
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 129
"Our situation is not fit to be represented. For
two years we have not received a hubba on account of
our tuncaw [assignment on the revenue], though the
ministers have annually charged a lac of rupees, and
never paid us anything. After all, we are the sons
of Sujah ul Dowlah! It is surprising, having such
a friend as you, our situation is arrived at that pass
that we should be in distress for dry bread and clothes.
Whereas you have done many generous acts, be
pleased so to show us your favor, that by some means
we may receive our allowances from the Company's
treasury, and not be obliged to depend upon and solicit others for it. "
XLVIII. That one of the princes aforesaid, called
the Mirza Jungly, about the beginning of the year
1783, was obliged to fly from the dominions of the
Nabob of Oude, and to leave. his country and connections; and as the Resident, Bristow, writing from Lucknow, hath observed, " he went to try his fortune
at other courts, in preference to starving at home,
which might have been his fate, by all accounts, at'
this place. " And the said prince sought for succor
at the court of one of the neighboring Mahomedan
princes; but conceiving some disgust at the treatment
he met with there, he departed from thence, and on
the 8th of February, 1783, arrived at the Mahratta
camp, while David Anderson, Esquire, was there in
the character of Minister Plenipotentiary to the Company, with a view, if his reception there should not prove answerable to his wishes, to pass on to the southward. And the said Anderson, probably considering this event as of very great importance to the honor of
the British government, as well as to its interest, on
VOL. IX. 9
? ? ? ? 130 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
the one hand, by exhibiting the son and brother of a
sovereign prince, from whom the Company had received many millions of money, a fugitive from his country, and a wanderer for bread through the courts
of India, and, on the other, the consequences which
might arise from the Mabrattas having in their possession and under their influence a son of the late Nabob of Oude, did without delay advise Warren
Hastings, Esquire, of the event aforesaid; and he did
also write to Mr. Bristow, the Resident at the court
of the Nabob Vizier, several letters, of the 9th and
20th of February, and of the 6th of March and 6th of
April, 1783, in order that some steps should be taken
for his return and establishment in his own country.
And the said Anderson did inform the Resident, Bristow, in his letter aforesaid, that, on the arrival of the fugitive prince, brother of the reigning sovereign of
Oude, at the Mahratta camp, he did cause his tent to
be pitched close to that of Mr. Anderson; but finding
this not agreeable to the Mabratta general, Sindia,
he afterwards removed: and that he showed a strong
attachment to the English, and was inclined to throw
himself upon their generosity; that he was desirous
of going to Calcutta; and declared, that, if he, the
said Anderson, " would give him the smallest encouragement, he would quit all his followers,. and come alone, and would take up his residence under his
protection. " And the said Anderson did declare, that
he thought it " would be policy, and much to the credit of our government, that some provision should be made for Mirza Jungly in our territories. "
XLIX. That the said Bristow did represent the
aforesaid circumstances to Hyder Beg Khan, minister
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 131
to the Nabob of Oude, declaring it his opinion, " that
his Highness's brother's thus taking refuge with a
foreign prince is a reflection upon the Vizier, and it
would be advisable that an allowance should be granted
to him upon the footing of his brothers, that he might
remain in the presence. " But the Nabob was indu,ed
to refuse to his brother any offer of any allowance
beyond the two hundred pounds per month, allowed,
but not paid, to his other brothers,- and which the
said prince did observe to Mr. Anderson, " that it was
not only inadequate to his expenses, but infinitely
less" (as the truth was) " than what his Excellency
has settled on many persons of inferior rank, who
have not so good a claim to his support; and that it
would not be sufficient to enable him to live at Lucknow, where all his friends and relations were, and so
many of his inferiors lived in a state of affluence. "
In case, therefore, it could not be increased, he requested leave to live in the Company's provinces, or
at Calcutta; for that in any of these situations " he
could with less difficulty regulate his expenses. " And
he did declare, that, if his request was granted to him,
he would immediately quit all his prospects with Sindia. To these propositions he received a very discouraging answer from his brother's minister, containing a:positive and'final refusal of any increase of allowance,
obtaining only the Nabob's permission to retire into
the Company's provinces. But Mr. Anderson did
not think himself authorized to take any steps for the
prince's retreat into the said'province without Sindia's
concurrence, who, he observed, would use every art
to detain him, and accordingly did offer him the comnand of a battalion of infantry to be paid directly'orom his own treasury, and six thousand pounds ster
? ? ? ? 132 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
ling a year for keeping up a corps of horse, and to
settle upon him a landed estate of four thousand
pounds a year as a provision for his wife and children:
which honorable offers it appears he did accept, and
did and doth remain in the Mahratta service.
L. That, during the whole course of this transaction, the said Warren Hastings was duly advised
thereof, first by a very early letter from the said Anderson, and afterwards by the Resident, Bristow, who,
on the 23d of April, 1783, transmitted to him his whole'correspondence with Mr. Anderson. But what answer or instructions the said Warren Hastings did give to Mr. Anderson does not appear, he not having
recorded anything upon that subject; but it appears
that to the Resident, Bristow, who required to be informed whether the reception of the fugitive prince
aforesaid in the Company's provinces would meet his
approbation, he gave no answer whatsoever: by which
criminal neglect, or worse, with regard to a brother
of an ally of the Company, who showed a strong attachment and preference to the English nation, and
by suffering him, without any known effort to prevent
-it, to attach himself to the cause and fortunes of the
Mahrattas, who, he, the said Hastings, well knew, did
keep up claims upon several parts of the dominions
of Oude, and had with difficulty been persuaded to
include the Nabob in the treaty of peace, he, having
suffered him first to languish at home in poverty, and
then to fly abroad for subsistence, and afterwards taking no step and countenancing no negotiations for his
return from his dangerous place of refuge, at the
same time that several of his, the said Hastings's,
creatures had each of them allowances much more
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 133
considerable than would have sufficed for the satisfaction and comfort of him, the said fugitive prince, was
guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor.
LI. That the indigent condition before related of
the other brothers of the Nabob was also duly transmitted to the said Warren Hastings; but he did never order or direct any steps whatsoever to be taken towards the relief of the family of a reigning prince,
who were daily in danger of perishing by famine
through the effect of his measures, and those of a person whom he supported in power against the will and
inclinations of the said prince and his family.
LII. That the foregoing instances of the penury,
distress, dispersion, and exile of the reigning family,
as well as the general disorder in all the affairs of
Oude, did strongly enforce the necessity of a proper
use of the British influence (the only real government
then existing) in the province aforesaid for a regulation of the economy of the Vizier's court, as well as
for the proper administration of the public concerns,
civil and military, which were in the greatest disorder;
and the said Warren Hastings was under obligation
to provide for the same, and did himself understand
it to be his duty so to do, and that he was therein
warranted by the spirit of the treaty of Chunar, as
well as by other universal pore rs of control, and
even of supersession, supposed by him to exist in the
relation between the British government and that of
Oude; and accordingly he did, in his instructions to
the Resident Middleton, to which he required his
most implicit obedience, direct him to an interference
in and control upon all the affairs concerning the rev
? ? ? ? 134 ARTICLES OF CHARGE
enues, the military arrangements, and all the other
branches of the Nabob's government.
LIII. That, upon his recall of the said Middleton,
he, in his instructions to the Resident Bristow, dated
23d of October, 1781 [1782? ], did at large set forth
the situation of the court and government of Oude,
the situation and character of the Nabob, of the acting
minister, and of the British Resident at that court, and
did plainly, distinctly, and without reserve, describe
the extent of the authority to be exercised by the last
of these persons, as well as the unqualified compliance
to be expected from the two former. And he did accordingly declare, that, "from the nature of our connection with the government of Oude, and from the Nabob's incapacity, a necessity will forever exist, while we have
the claim of a subsidy upon the resources of his country, of exercising an influence, and frequently substituting it ENTIRELY in the place of an avowed and constitutional authority, in the administration of his
[the Nabob's] government"; and he did further in the
said instructions, namely, in instruction the fourth,
direct the said Resident in the words following: "I
must have recourse to you for the introduction of
a new system in that government; nor can I omit,
whilst I express my reliance on you for that purpose,
to repeat the sentiments which I expressed in the verbal instructions which I gave you at your departure,
that there can be no medium in the relation between the
_Resident and the minister, but either the Resident must
be the slave and vassal of the minister, or the minister
at the absolute disposal of the Resident. " And he, the
said Hastings, did:state, in the same article of the instructions aforesaid, that, though the conduct of the
? ? ? ? AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS. 135
said Hyder Beg Khan had been highly reprehensible,
and that he was much displeased thereat, he would
prefer him to any other, on account of his ability and. knowledge of business, with the following proviso,"If he would submit to hold his office on such conditions as I require. He exists by his dependence on the ihfluence of our government. It must be advisable to try him. by the mode of conciliation; at the
same time that in your final conversation with him it
will be necessary to declare to him, in the plainest
terms, the footing and condition on which he shall be
permitted to retain his place, with the alternative of
a dismission, and a scrutiny into his conduct, if he
refuses it.
