But was it an
entertainment
upon a visit?
Edmund Burke
17
? ? ? ? 258 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
prove, that Mr. Smith was at that time actually Mr.
Hastings's solicitor: all that we shall attempt to
make out is, that the case he produced was just such
a case as a solicitor anxious for the preservation of
his client, and not anxious for the prosecution, would
have made out.
My Lords, I have next to remark, that the opinion
which the counsel gave in this case, namely, a very
doubtful opinion, accompanied with strong censure of
the manner in which the case was stated, was drawn
from them by a case in which I charge that there
were misrepresentation, suppression, and falsification.
Now, my Lords, in making this charge I am in a
very awkward and unpleasant situation; but it is a
situation in which, with all the disagreeable circumstances attending it, I must proceed. I am, in this business, obliged to name many men: I do not name
them wantollly, but from the absolute necessity, as
your Lordships will see, of the case. . I do not mean
to reflect upon this gentleman: I believe, at the time
when he made this case, and especially the article
which I state as a falsification, he must have trusted
to some of the servants of the Company, who were
but young in their service at that time. There was
a very great error committed; but by whom, or how,
your Lordships in the course of this inquiry will find.
What I charge first is, that the case was improperly stated; secondly, that it was partially stated; and that afterwards a further report was made upon reference to the same officer in the committee. Now, my Lords, of the three charges which I have made,
the two former, namely, the misrepresentation and
suppression, were applicable to the case; but all the
three, misrepresentation, suppression, and falsification, were applicable to the report.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 259
This I say in vindication of the opinions given,
and for the satisfaction of the public, who may be
imposed upon by them. I wish the word to be understood. When I say imposed, I always mean by it the weight and authority carried: a meaning which
this word, perhaps, has not got yet thoroughly in the
English language; but in a neighboring language imposing means, that it weighs upon men's minds with a sovereign authority. To say that the opinions of
learned men, though even thus obtained, may not
have weight with this court, or with any court, is
a kind of compliment I cannot pay to them at the
expense of that common nature in which I and all
human beings are involved.
He states in the case the covenants and the salary
of Mr. Hastings, and his emoluments, very fairly.
I do not object to any part of that. He then proceeds to state very partially the business upon which
the Committee of Circuit went, and without opening
whose conduct we cannot fully bring before you this
charge of bribery. He then states, " that, an inquiry
having been made by the present Supreme Council
of Bengal respecting the conduct of the members of
the last administration, several charges have been
made, stating moneys very improperly received by
Mr. Hastings during the time of the late administration: amongst these is one of his having received 150,000 rupees of Munny Begum, the guardian of
the Nabob, who is an infant. "
In this statement of the case everything is put
out of its true place. Mr. Hastings was not charged
with receiving a lac and a half of rupees from
Munny Begum, the guardian of the Nabob, - for she
was not then his guardian; but he was charged with
? ? ? ? 260 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
receiving a lac and a half of rupees for removing
the Nabob's own mother, who was his natural guardian, and substituting this step-mother, who was a prostitute, in her place; whereas here it supposes lihe
found her a guardian, and that she had made him a
present, which alters the whole nature of the case.
The case, in the recital of the charge, sets out with
what every one of your Lordships knows now not to
be tlie truth of the fact, nor the thing that in itself
implies the criminality: he ought to have stated that
in the beginning of the business. The suppressions
in the recital are amazing. He states an inquiry
having been made by the Supreme Council of Bengal respecting the conduct of the members of the last administration. That inquiry was made in consequence of the charge, and not the charge brought forward, as they would have it believed, in consequence of the inquiry. There is no mention that
that inquiry had been expressly ordered by the Court
of Directors; but it is stated as though it was a
voluntary inquiry. Now there is always something
doubtful in voluntary inquiries with regard to the
people concerned. He then supposes, upon this inquiry, that to be the charge which is not the charge at all. The crime, as I have stated, consisted of
two distinct parts, but both inferring the same corruption: the first, two lac of rupees taken expressly for the nomination of this woman to this place; and
the other, one lac and a half of rupees, in effect for
the same purpose, but under the name and color of
an entertainment. The drawer of the case, finding
that in the one case, namely, the two lac of rupees,
the evidence was more weak, but that no justification could be set up, - finding in the other, the lac
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 261
and a half of rupees, the proof strong and not to be
resisted, but that some justification was to be found
for it, lays aside the charge of the two lac totally;
and the evidence belonging to it, which was considered as rather weak, is applied to the other charge of a lac and a half, the proof of which upon its own
evidence was irresistible.
My speech I hope your Lordships consider as only pointing out to your attention these particulars.
Your Lordships will see it exemplified throughout
the whole, that, when there is eviaence (for some
evidence is brought) that does belong to the lac and
a half, it is entirely passed by, the most material circumstances are weakened, the whole strength and force of them taken away. Every one knows how
true it is of evidence, junectajuvant: but here everything is broken and smashed to pieces, and nothillg but disorder appears through the whole. For your
Lordships will observe that the proof that belongs
to one thing is put as belonging to another, and the
proof of the other brought in a weak and imperfect
manner in the rear of the first, and with every kind
of observation to rebut and weaken it; and wher
this evidence is produced, which appears inapplicable
almost in all the parts, in many doubtful, confused,
and perplexed, and in some even contradictory,
(which it will be when the evidence to one thing
is brought to apply and bear upon another,) good
hopes were entertained in consequence that that
would happen which in part did happen, namely,
that the counsel, distracted and confused, and finding no satisfaction in the case, could not advise a prosecution.
But what is still more material and weighty, many
? ? ? ? 262 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
particulars are suppressed in this case, and still more
in the report; and turning from the case to the proceedings of the persons who are supposed to have the
management of the inquiry, they bring forward, as
an appendix to this case, Mr. Hastings's own invectives and charge against these persons, at the very
same time that they suppress and do not bring forward, either in the charge or upon the report, what
the other party have said in their own justification.
The consequence of this management was, that a
body of evidence which would have made this case
the clearest in the world, and which I hope we shall
make to appear so to your Lordships, was rendered
for the most part inapplicable, and the whole puzzled
and confused: I say, for the most part, for some
parts did apply, but miserably applied, to the case.
From their own state of the case they would have it
inferred that the fault was not in their way of representing it, but in the infirmity, confusion, and disorder of the proofs themselves; but this, I trust we shall satisfy you, is by no means the case. I rest,
however, upon the proof of partiality in this business, of the imposition upon the counsel, whether
designed or not, and of the bias given by adding an
appendix with Mr. Hastings's own remarks upon the
case, without giving the reasons of the other parties
for their conduct. Now, if there was nothing else
than the fallacious recital, and afterwards the suppression, I believe any rational and sober man would
see perfect, good, and sufficient ground for laying
aside any authority that can be derived from the
opinions of persons, though of the first character
(and I am sure no man living does more homage to
their learning, impartiality, and understanding than
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 263
I do): first, because the statement of the case has
thrown the whole into confusion; and secondly, as to
the matter added as an appendix, which gives the
representation of the delinquent and omits the representation of his prosecutors, it is observed very properly and very wisely by one of the great men
before whom this evidence was laid, that "the evidence, as it is here stated, is still more defective, if the appendix is adopted by the Directors and meant
to make a part of the case; for that throws discredit
upon all the information so collected. " Certainly it
does; for, if the delinquent party, who is to be prosecuted, be heard with his own representation of the case, and that of his prosecutors be suppressed, he
is master both of the lawyers and of the mind of
mankind.
My Lords, I have here attempted to point out the
extreme inconsistencies and defects of this proceeding; and I wish your Lordships to consider, with respect to these proceedings of the India House in their prosecutions, that it is in the power of some
of their officers to make statements in the manner
that I have described, then to obtain the names of
great lawyers, and under their sanction to carry the
accused through the world as acquitted.
These are the material circumstances which will
be submitted to your Lordships' sober consideration
in the course of this inquiry. I have now stated
them on these two accounts: first, to rebut the reason which Mr. Hastings has assigned for not giving
any satisfaction to the Court of Directors, namely,
because they did not want it, having dropped a prosecution upon great authorities and opinions; and
next,. to show your Lordships how a business begun
? ? ? ? 264 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
in bribery is to be supported only by fraud, deceit,
and collusion, and how the receiving of bribes by a
Governor-General of Bengal tends to taint the whole
service from beginning to end, both at home and
abroad.
But though upon the partial case that was presented to them these great lawyers did not advise
a prosecution, and though even upon a full representation of a case a lawyer might think that a man ought not to be prosecuted, yet he may consider him
to be the vilest man upon earth. We know men
are acquitted in the great tribunals in which several Lords of this country have presided, and who perhaps ought not to have been brought there and
prosecuted before them, and yet about whose delinquency there could be no doubt. But though we have here sufficient reason to justify the great lawyers whose names and authorities are produced, yet Mr. Hastings has extended that authority beyond the
length of their opinions. For, being no longer under the terror of the law, which, he said, restrained
him from making his defence, he was then bound to
give that satisfaction to his masters and the world
which every man in honor is bound to do, when a
grave accusation is brought against him. But this
business of the law I wish to sleep from this moment, till the time when it shall come before you; though I suspect, and have had reason (sitting in
committees in the House of Commons) to believe,
that there was in the India House a bond of iniquity, somewhere or other, which was able to impose
in the first instance upon the solicitor, the guilt of
which, being of another nature, I shall state hereafter,
that your Lordships may be able to discover tlhrough
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 265
whose means and whose fraud Mr. Hastings obtained
these opinions.
If, however, all the great lawyers had been unanimous upon that occasion, still it would have been necessary for Mr. Hastings to say, " I cannot, according to my opinion, be brought to give an account in a court of justice, and I have got great lawyers to
declare, that, upon the case laid before them, they
cannot advise a prosecution; but now is the time
for me to come forward, and, being no longer in
fear that my defence may be turned against me, I
will produce my defence for the satisfaction of my
masters and the vindication of my own character. "
But besides this doubtful opinion (for I believe your
Lordships will find it no better than a doubtftil opinion) given by persons for whom I have the highest honor, and given with a strong censure upon the
state of the case, there were also some great lawyers,
men of great authority in the kingdom, who gave a
full and decided opinion that a prosecution ought to
be instituted against him; but the Court of Directors decided otherwise, they overruled those opinions, and acted upon the opinions in favor of Mr. Hastings. When, therefore, he knew that the great men
in the law were divided upon the propriety of a prosecution, but that the Directors had decided in his favor, he was the more strongly bound to enter into
a justification of his conduct.
But there was another great reason which should
have induced him to do this. One great lawyer,
known to many of your Lordships, Mr. Sayer, a very
honest, intelligent man, who had long served the Company and well knew their affairs, had given an opinion concerning Mr. Hastings's conduct in stopping
? ? ? ? 266 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
these prosecutions. There was an abstract question
put to Mr. Sayer, and other great lawyers, separated
from many of the circumstances of this business, concerning a point which incidentally arose; and this was, whether Mr. Hastings, as Governor-General, had
a power so to dissolve the Council, that, if he declared
it dissolved, they could not sit and do any legal and
regular act. It was a great question with the lawyers
at the time, and there was a difference of opinion on
it. Mr. Sayer was one of those who were inclined to
be of opinion that the Governor-General had a power
of dissolving the Council, and that the Council could
not legally sit after such dissolution. But what was
his remark upon Mr. Hastings's conduct? - and you
must suppose his remark of more weight, because,
upon the abstract question, he had given his opinion
in favor of Mr. Hastings's judgment. " The meeting
of the Council depends on the pleasure of the Governor; and I think the duration of it must do so,
too. But it was as great a crime to dissolve the
Council upon base and sinister motives as it would
be to assume the power of dissolving, if he had it not.
I believe he is the first Governor that ever dissolved
a Council inquiring into his behavior, when lie was
innocent. Before lie could summon three Counicils
and dissolve them, he had time fully to consider what
would be the result of such conduct, to convince everybody, beyond a doubt,'of his conscious guilt. "
Mr. Sayer, then, among other learned people, (and
if he had not been the man that I have described, yet,
from his intimate connection with the Company, his
opinion must be supposed to have great weight,) having used expressions as strong as the persons who have ever criminated Mr. Hastings most for the worst
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 267
of his crimes have ever used to qualify and describe
them, and having ascribed his conduct to base and
sinister motives, he was bound upon that occasion to
justify that strong conduct, allowed to be legal, and
charged at the same time to be violent. Mr. Hastings
was obliged then to produce something in his justification. He never did. Therefore, for all the reasons assigned by himself, drawn from the circumstances of
prosecution and non-prosecution, and from opinions
of lawyers and colleagues, the Court of Directors at
the same time censuring his conduct, and strongly applauding the conduct of those who were adverse to him, Mr. Hastings was, I say, from those accumulated circumstances, bound to get rid of the infamy of
a conduct which could be attributed to nothing but
base and sinister motives, and which could have no
effect but to convince men of his consciousness that
he was guilty. From all these circumstances I infer
that no man could have endured this load of infamy,
and to this time have given no explanation of his conduct, unless for the reason which this learned counsel gives, and which your Lordships and the world will
give, namely, his conscious guilt.
After leaving upon your minds that presumption,
not to operate without proof, but to operate along
with the proof, (though, I take it, there are some presumptions that go the full length of proof,) I shall
not press it to the length to whiclf I think it would go,
but use it only as auxiliary, assisting, and compurgatory of all the other evidences that go along with it. There is another circumstance which must come
before your Lordships in this business. If you find
that Mr. Hastings has received the two lac of rupees,
then you will find that he was guilty, without color or
? ? ? ? 268 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
pretext of any kind whatever, of acting in violation of
his covenant, of acting in violation of the laws, and
all the rules of honor and conscience. If you find
that he has taken the lac and a half, which he admits,
but which he justifies under the pretence of an entertainment, I shall beg to say something to your Lordships concerning that justification.
The justification set up is, that he went up from
Calcutta to Moorshedabad, and paid a visit of three
months, and that there an allowance was made to him
of two hundred pounds a day in lieu of an entertainment. Now, my Lords, I leave it to you to determine,
if there was such a custom, whether or no his covenant justifies his conformity with it. I remember
Lord Coke, talking of the Brehon law in Ireland, says
it is no law, but a lewd custom. A governor is to
conform himself to the laws of his own country, to
the stipulations of those that employ him, and not to
the lewd customs of any other country: those customs
are more honored in the breach than in the observance. If Mr. Hastings was really feasted and entertained with the magnificence of the country, if there was an entertainment of dancing-girls brought out to
amuse him in his leisure hours, if he was feasted with
the hookah and every other luxury, there is something to be said for him, though I should not justify
a Governor-General wasting his days in that manner.
But in fact here was no entertainment that could
amount to such a sum; and he has nowhere proved
the existence of such a custom.
But if such a custom did exist, which I contend is
more honored in the breach than in the observance,
that custom is capable of being abused to the grossest
extortion; and that it was so abused will strike your
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 269
Lordships' minds in such a manner that I hardly need
detail the circumstances of it. What! two hundred
pounds to be given to a man for one day's entertainment? If there is an end of it there, it ruins nobody, and cannot be supposed, to a great degree, to corrupt
anybody; but when that entertainment is renewed
day after day for three months, it is no longer a compliment to the man, but a great pecuniary advantage, and, on the other hand, to the person giving it, a
grievous, an intolerable burden. It then becomes a
matter of the most serious and dreadful extortion,
tending to hinder the people who give it not only
from giving entertainment, but from having bread to
eat themselves. Therefore, if any such entertainment was customary, the custom was perverted by the abuse of its being continued for three months together. It was longer than Ahasuerus's feast. There is
a feast of reason and a flow of soul; but Mr. Hastings's feast was a feast of avarice and a flow of money. No wonder he was unwilling to rise from such a table:
he continued to sit at that table for three months.
In his covenant he is forbidden expressly to take
any allowance above 4001. , and forbidden to take
any allowance above 1001. , without the knowledge,
consent, and approbation of the Council to which he
belongs. Now he takes 16,0001. , not only without
the consent of the Council, but without their knowledge, -- without the knowledge of any other human being: it is kept hid in the darkest and most secret
recesses of his own black agents and confidants, and
those of Munny Begum. Why is it a secret? Hospitality, generosity, virtues of that kind, are full of
display; there is an ostentation, a pomp, in them;
they want to be shown to the world, not concealed.
? ? ? ? 270 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
The concealment of acts of charity is what makes
them acceptable in the eyes of Him with regard to
whom there can be no concealment; but acts of corruption are kept secret, not to keep them secret from the eye of Him, whom the person that observes the
secrecy does not fear, nor perhaps believe in, but to
keep them secret from the eyes of mankind, whose
opinions he does fear, in the immediate effect of
them, and in their future consequences. Therefore
he had but one reason to keep this so dark and profound a secret, till it was dragged into day in spite
of him; he had no reason to keep it a secret, but his
knowing it was a proceeding that could not bear the
light. Charity is the only virtue that I ever heard
of that derives from its retirement any part of its
lustre; the others require to be spread abroad in the
face of day. Such candles should not be hid under
a bushel, and, like the illuminations which men light
up when they mean to express great joy and great
magnificence for a great event, their very splendor is
a part of their excellence. We upon our feasts light
up this whole capital city; we in our feasts invite all
the world to partake them. Mr. Hastings feasts in
the dark; Mr. Hastings feasts alone; Mr. Hastings
feasts like a wild beast; he growls in the corner over
the dying and the dead, like the tigers of that country, who drag their prey into the jungles. Nobody knows of it, till he is brought into judgment for the
flock he has destroyed. His is the entertainment of
Tantalus; it is an entertainment from which the sun
hid his light.
But was it an entertainment upon a visit? Was
Mr. Hastings upon a visit? No: he was executing
a commission for the Company in a village in the
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 271
neighborhood of Moorshedabad, and. by no means upon a visit to the Nabob. On the contrary, he was upon something i;lat might be more properly called a
visitation. He came as a heavy calamity, like a famine or a pestilence on a country; he came there to
do the severest act in the world, -as he himself expresses, to take the bread, literally the bread, from
above a thousand of the nobles of the country, and to
reduce them to a situation which no man can hear
of without shuddering. When you consider, that,
while he was thus entertained himself, he was famishing fourteen hundred of the nobility and gentry
of the country, you will not conceive it to be any
extenuation of his crimes, that he was therey not upon a visit, but upon a duty, the harshest that could
be executed, both to the persons who executed and
the people who suffered from it.
It is mentioned and supposed in the observations
upon this case, though no circumstances relative to
the persons or the nature of the visit are stated, that
this expense was something which he mlight have
charged to the Company and did not. It is first supposed by the learned counsel who made the observation, that it was a public, allowed, and acknowledged thing; then, that he had not charged the Company anything for it. I have looked into that
business. In the first place, I see no such custom;
and if there was such a custom, there was the most
abusive misemployment of it. I find that in that
year there was paid from the Company's cash account to the Governor's travelling charges (and he
had no other journey at that end of the year)
thirty thousand rupees, which is about 3,0001. ; and
when we consider that lie was in the receipt of near
? ? ? ? 272 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
30,0001. , besides the nuzzers, which amount to several thousand a year, and that he is allowed 3,0001.
by the Company for his travelling expenses, is it
right to charge upon the miserable people whom he
was defrauding of their bread 16,0001. for his entertainment?
I find that there are also other great sums relative
to the expenses of the Committee of Circuit, which
he was upon. How much of them is applicable to
him I know not. I say, that the allowance of three
thousand pounds was noble and liberal; for it is not
above a day or two's journey to Moorshedabad, and
by his taking his road by Kishenagur he could not
be longer. He had a salary to live upon, and he
must live somewhere; and he was actually paid three
thousand pounds for travelling charges for three
months, which was at the rate of twelve thousand
pounds a year: a large and abundant sum.
If you once admit that a man for an entertainment
shall take sixteen thousand pounds, there never will
be any bribe, any corruption, that may not be justified:
the corrupt man has nothing to do but to make a
visit, and then that very moment he may receive any
sum under the name of this entertainment; that moment his covenants are annulled, his bonds and obligations destroyed, the act of Parliament repealed, and it is no longer bribery, it is no longer corruption,
it is no longer peculation; it is nothing but thanks
for obliging inquiries, and a compliment according to
the mode of the country, by which he makes his fortune.
What hinders him from renewing that visit? If
you support this distinction, you will teach the Governor-General, instead of attending his business at
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 273
the capital, to make journeys through the country,
putting every great man of that country under the
most ruinous contributions; and as this custom is in
no manner confined to the Governor-General, but
extends, as it must upon that principle, to every
servant of the Company ill ally station whatever,
then, if each of them were to receive all entertainlment, I will venture to say that the greatest ravage of an hostile army could not, indeed, destroy the
country more entirely than the Company's servants
by such visits.
Your Lordships will see that there are grounds for
suspicion, not supported with the same evidence, but
with evidence of great probability, that there was another entertainment given at the expense of another lac of rupees; and there is also great probability that
Mr. Hastings received two lac of rupees, and Mr.
Middleton another lac. The whole of the Nabob's
revenues would have been exhausted by these two
men, if they had stayed there a whole year: and they
stayed three months. Nothing will be secured from
the Company's servants, so long as they can find,
under this name, or under pretence of any corrupt
custom of the country, a vicious excuse for this corrupt practice. The excuse is worse than the thing itself. I leave it, then, with your judgment to decide
whether you. will or not, if this justification comes before you, establish a principle which would put all Bengal in a worse situation than an hostile army could do, and ruin all the Company's servants by sending them from their duty to go round robbing the whole country under the name of entertainments.
My Lords, I have now done with this first part, -- namely, the presumption arising from his refusal to VOL. X. 18
? ? ? ? 274 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
make any defence, on pretence that the charge brought against him might be referred to a court of justice,
and from the non-performance of his promise to give satisfaction to his employers, - and when that pretence was removed, still refusing to give that satisfaction, though suffering as he did uinder a load of infamy
and obloquy, and though urged to give it by persons
of the greatest character. I have stated this to your Lordships as the strongest presumption of guilt, and that this presumption is strengthened by the very excuse which he fabricated for a part of his bribes, when he knew that the proof of them was irresistible, and that this excuse is a high aggravation of his
guilt, - that this excuse is not supported by law,
that it is not supported by reason, that it does not
stand with his covenant, but carries with it a manifest proof of corruption, and that it cannot be justified
by any principle, custom, or usage whatever. My
Lords, I say I have done with the presumption arising from his conduct as it regarded the fact specifically charged against him, and with respect to the relation
he stood in to the Court of Directors, and from the attempt he made to justify that conduct. I believe
your Lordships will think both one and the other
strong presumptions of his criminality, and of his knowledge that the act he was doing was criminal.
I have another fact to lay before your Lordships,
which affords a further presumption of his guilt, and which will show the mischievous consequences of it; and I trust your Lordships will not blame me for
going a little into it. Your Lordships know we
charge that the appointment of such a woman as Munny Begum to the guardianship of the Nabob, to
the superintendency of the civil justice of the coun
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 275
try, and to the representation of the whole government, was made for no other purpose than that
through this corrupt woman sixteen thousand pounds
a year, the whole tattered remains of the Nabob's
grandeur, might be a prey to Mr. Hastings: it could
be for no other. Now your Lordships would imagine,
that, after this, knowing he was already grievously suspected, he would have abstained from giving any further ground for suspicion by a repetition of the same acts through the same person; as no other reason
could be furnished for such acts, done directly contrary to the order of his superiors, but that he was
actuated by the influence of bribery. Your Lordships would imagine, that, when this Munny Begum
was removed upon a charge of corruption, Mr. Hastings would have left her quiet in tranquil obscurity,
and that he would no longer have attempted to elevate her into a situation which furnished against
himself so much disgrace and obloquy to himself,
and concerning which he stood charged with a direct and positive act of bribery. Your Lordships well
know, that, upon the deposition of that great magistrate, Mahomed Reza Khan, this woman was appointed to supply his place. The Governor-General and Council (the majority of them being then Sir John
Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis) had
made a provisional arrangement for the time, until
they should be authorized to fill up the place in a
proper manner. Soon after, there came from Europe
a letter expressing the satisfaction which the Court
of Directors had received in the acquittal of Mahomed
Reza Khan, expressing a regard for his character, an
high opinion of his abilities, and a great disposition
to make him some recompense for his extreme suffer
? ? ? ? 276 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ings; and accordingly they ordered that he should be
again employed. Having no exact ideas of the state
of employments in that country, they made a mistake in the specific employment for which they
named him; for, being a Mahometan, and the head
of the Mahometans in that country, he was named to
an office which must be held by a Gentoo. But the
majority I have just named, who never endeavored
by any base and delusive means to fly from their
duty, or not to execute it at all, because they were
desired to execute it in a way in which they could
not execute it, followed the spirit of the order; and
finding that Mahomed Reza Khan, before his imprisonment and trial, had been in possession of another
employment, they followed the spirit of the instructions of the Directors and replaced him in that employment: by which means there was an end put to the government of Munny Begum, the country
reverted to its natural state, and men of the first
rank in the country were placed in the first situations
in it. The seat of judicature was filled with wisdom,
gravity, and learning, and Munny Begum sunk into
that situation into which a woman who had been
engaged in the practices that she had been engaged
in naturally would sink at her time of life. Mr.
Hastings resisted this appointment. He trifled with
the Company's orders on account of the letter of
them, and endeavored to disobey the spirit of them.
However, the majority overbore him; they put Mahomed Reza Khan into his former situation; and as
a proof and seal to the honor and virtue of their
character, there was not a breath of suspicion that
they had any corrupt motive for this conduct. They
were odious to many of the India House here; they
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 277
were odious to that corrupt influence which had
begun and was going on to ruin India; but in the
face of all this odium, they gave the appointment to
Mahomed Reza Kh. an, because the act contained in
itself its own justification. Mr. Hastings made a violent protest against it. and resisted it to the best of his power, always in favor of Munny Begum, as
your Lordships will see. Mr. Hastings sent this protest to the Directors; but the Directors, as soon as the case came before them, acknowledged their error, and praised the majority of the Council, Sir John Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis, for the
wise and honorable part they had taken upon the occasion, by obeying the spirit and not the letter, -- commended the act they had done, - confirmed Mahomed Reza Khan in his place, -- and to prevent that great man from being any longer the sport of
fortune, any longer the play of avarice between corrupt governors and dancing-girls, they gave him the pledged faith of the Company that he should remain
in that office as long as his conduct deserved their
protection: it was a good and an honorable tenure.
My Lords, soon afterwards there happened two
lamentable deaths, -first of Colonel Monson, afterwards of General Clavering. Thus Mr. Hastings
was set loose: there was an inspection and a watch
upon his conduct, and no more. He was then just
in the same situation in which he had stood in 1772.
What does he do? Even just what he did in 1772.
He deposes Mahomed Reza Khan, notwithstanding
the Company's orders, notwithstanding their pledged
faith; he turns him out, and makes a distribution of
two lacs and a half of rupees, the salary of that great
magistrate, in the manner I will now show your
? ? ? ? 278 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Lordships. He made ain arrangement consisting ot
three main parts: the first was with regard to the womell, the next with regard to the magistracy, the
last with regard to the officers of state of the household. The first person that occurred to Mr. Hastings was Munny Begum; and he gave her, not out of that part
of the Nabob's allowance which was to support the
seraglio, but out of the allowance of this very magistrate, just as if such a thing had been done here out of the salary of a Lord Chancellor or a Lord ChiefJustice, - out of these two lacs and a half of rupees,
that is, about twenty-four or twenty-five thousand
pounds a year, he ordered an allowance to be made
to Munny Begum of 72,000 rupees per annum, or
7,2001. a year; for the Nabob's own mother, whom
he thrust, as usual, into a subordinate situation, he
made an allowance of 3,0001. ; to the Sudder ul i[uk
Khlan, which is, translated into English, the Lord
Chief-Justice, he allowed the same sum that he did
to the dancing-girl, (which was very liberal in him,
and I am rather astonished to find it,) namely,
7,2001. a year. And who do you think was the next
public officer he appointed? It was the Rajah Gourdas, the son of Nundcomar, and whose testimony he has attempted both before and since this occasion to
weaken. To him, however, he gave an employment
of 6,0001. a year, as if to make through the son some
compensation to the manes of the father. And in
this manner he distributes, with a wild and liberal
profusion, between magistrates and dancing-girls, the
whole spoil of Mahomed Reza Khan, notwithstanding the Company's direct and positive assurance given to him. Everything was done, at the same time, to
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 279
put, as it was before, into the hands of this dancinggirl the miserable Nabob's whole family; and that
the fund for corruption might be large enough, he
did not take the money for this dancing-girl out of
the Nabob's separate revenue, of which he and the
dancing-girl had the private disposal between them.
Now upon what pretence did he do all this? The
Nabob had represented to Mr. Hastings that he was
now of age, - that he was an independent, sovereign
prince, - that, being independent and sovereign in
his situation, and being of full age, he had a right to
manage his own concerns himself; and therefore he
desired to be admitted to that management. And,
indeed, my Lords, ostensibly, and supposing him to
have been this independent prince, and that the
Company had no authority or had never exercised
any authority over him through Mr. Hastings, there
might be a good deal said in favor of this request.
But what was the real state of the case? The Nabob
was a puppet in the hands of Mr. Hastings and Munny Begunm; and you will find, upon producing the
correspondence, that lie confesses that she was the
ultimate object and end of this request.
I think this correspondence, wherein a son is made
to petition, in his own name, for the elevation of a
dancing-girl, his step-mother, above himself and everybody else, will appear to your Lordships such a curiosity as, I believe, is not to be found in the state correspondence of the whole world. The Nabob begins thus: -" The excellency of that policy by which her
Highness the Begum" (meaning Munny Begum)
" (may her shadow be far extended! ) formerly, during the time of her administration, transacted the
affairs of the nizamut in the very best and most ad
? ? ? ? 280 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
vantageous manner, was, by means of the delusions of
enemies disguised under the appearance of friends,
hidden from me. Having lately seriously reflected
on my own affairs, I am convinced that it was the
effect of maternal affection, was highly proper, and
for my interest, - and that, except the said Begum is
again invested with the administration, the regulation
and prosperity of this family, which is in fact her
own, cannot be effected. For this cause, from the
time of her suspension until now, I have passed my
time, and do so still, in great trouble and uneasiness.
As all affairs, and particularly the happiness and
prosperity of this family, depend on your pleasure, I
now trouble you, in hopes that you, likewise concurring in this point, will be so kind as to write in fit and proper terms to her Highness the Begum, that
she will always, as formerly, employ her authority in
the administration of the nizamut and the affairs of
this family. "
This letter, my Lords, was received upon the 23d
of August; and your Lordships may observe two
things in it: first, that, some way or other, this Nabob had been (as the fact was) made to express his desire of being released from his subjection to the
Munny Begum, but that now he has got new lights,
all the mists are gone, and he now finds that Munny Begum is not only the fittest person to govern him, but the whole country. This young man, whose
inlcapacity is stated, and never denied, by Mr. Hastinlgs, and by Lord Cornwallis, and by all the rest of the world who know him, begins to be charmed
with the excellency of the policy of Munny Begum.
Such is his violent impatience, such the impossibility of his existing an hour but under the govern
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 281
tnent of Munny Begum, that he writes again on the
25th of August, (hle had really the impatience of a
lover,) and within five days afterwards writes again,
- so impatient, so anxious and jealous is this young
man to be put under the government of an old dancing-woman. He is afraid lest Mr. Hastings should imagine that some sinister influence had prevailed
upon him in so natural and proper a request. He
says, "Knowing it for my interest and advantage
that the administration of the affairs of the nizamut
should be restored to her Highness the Munny Begum, I have already troubled you with my request, that, regarding my situation with an eye of favor,
you will approve of this measure. I am credibly
informed that some one of my enemies, from selfish
views, has, for the purpose of oversetting this measure, written you that the said Begum procured from me by artifice the letter I wrote you on this subject.
This caulses me the. greatest astonishment. Please to
consider, that artifice and delusion are confined to
cheats and impostors, and can never proceed from
a person of such exalted rank, who is the head and
patron of all the family of the deceased Nabob, my
father,- and that to be deluded, being a proof of
weakness and folly, can have no relation to me, except the inventor of this report considers me as void of understanding, and has represented me to the gentlemen as a blockhead and an idiot. God knows how harshly such expressions appear to me; but, as the
truth. or falsehood has not yet been fully ascertained,
I have therefore suspended my demand of satisfaction. Should it be true, be so kind as to inform me
of it, that the person may be made to answer for it. "
My Lords, here is a very proper demand. The
? ? ? ? 282 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Nabob is astonished at the suspicion, that such a
woman as Munny Begum, whose trade in youth had
been delusion, should be capable of deluding anybody.
Astonishing it certainly was, that a woman who had
been a deluder in youth should be suspected to be
the same in old age, and that he, a young man,
should be subject to her artifices. "They must suspect me to be a great blockhead," he says, " if a man of my rank is to be deluded. " There he forgot
that it is the unhappy privilege of great men to be
cheated, to be deluded, much more than other persons; but he thought it so impossible in the case
of Munny Begum, that he says, " Produce me the
traitor that could suppose it possible for me to be deluded, when I call for this woman as the governor of the country. I demand satisfaction. " I rather wonder that Mr. Hastings did not inform him who it was that had reported so gross and improbable a tale,
and deliver him up to the fury of the Nabob.
Mr. Hastings is absolutely besieged by him; for
he receives another letter upon the 3d of September.
Here are four letters following one another quick as
p)ost expresses with horns sounding before them. " Oh,
I die, I perish, I sink, if Munny Begum is not put
into the government of the country! -- I therefore
desire to have her put into the government of the
country, and that you will not keep me longer in this
painful suspense, but will be kindly pleased to write
immediately to the Munny Begum, that she take on
herself the administration of the affairs of the nizamut, which is, in fact, her own family, without the interference of any other person whatever: by this
you will give me complete satisfaction. " Here is a
correspondence more like an amorous than a state
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 283
correspondence. What is this man so eager about,
what in such a rage about, that he cannot endure
the smallest delay of the post with common patience?
Why, lest this old woman (who is not his mother, and
with whom he had no other tie of blood) should not
be made mistress of himself and the whole country!
However, in a very few months afterwards he himself
is appointed by Mr. Hastings to the government; and
you may easily judge by the preceding letters who
was to govern. It would be an affront to your Lordships' judgment to attempt to prove who was to govern, after he had desired to put the whole government of affairs into the hands of Munny Begum.
? ? ? ? 258 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
prove, that Mr. Smith was at that time actually Mr.
Hastings's solicitor: all that we shall attempt to
make out is, that the case he produced was just such
a case as a solicitor anxious for the preservation of
his client, and not anxious for the prosecution, would
have made out.
My Lords, I have next to remark, that the opinion
which the counsel gave in this case, namely, a very
doubtful opinion, accompanied with strong censure of
the manner in which the case was stated, was drawn
from them by a case in which I charge that there
were misrepresentation, suppression, and falsification.
Now, my Lords, in making this charge I am in a
very awkward and unpleasant situation; but it is a
situation in which, with all the disagreeable circumstances attending it, I must proceed. I am, in this business, obliged to name many men: I do not name
them wantollly, but from the absolute necessity, as
your Lordships will see, of the case. . I do not mean
to reflect upon this gentleman: I believe, at the time
when he made this case, and especially the article
which I state as a falsification, he must have trusted
to some of the servants of the Company, who were
but young in their service at that time. There was
a very great error committed; but by whom, or how,
your Lordships in the course of this inquiry will find.
What I charge first is, that the case was improperly stated; secondly, that it was partially stated; and that afterwards a further report was made upon reference to the same officer in the committee. Now, my Lords, of the three charges which I have made,
the two former, namely, the misrepresentation and
suppression, were applicable to the case; but all the
three, misrepresentation, suppression, and falsification, were applicable to the report.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 259
This I say in vindication of the opinions given,
and for the satisfaction of the public, who may be
imposed upon by them. I wish the word to be understood. When I say imposed, I always mean by it the weight and authority carried: a meaning which
this word, perhaps, has not got yet thoroughly in the
English language; but in a neighboring language imposing means, that it weighs upon men's minds with a sovereign authority. To say that the opinions of
learned men, though even thus obtained, may not
have weight with this court, or with any court, is
a kind of compliment I cannot pay to them at the
expense of that common nature in which I and all
human beings are involved.
He states in the case the covenants and the salary
of Mr. Hastings, and his emoluments, very fairly.
I do not object to any part of that. He then proceeds to state very partially the business upon which
the Committee of Circuit went, and without opening
whose conduct we cannot fully bring before you this
charge of bribery. He then states, " that, an inquiry
having been made by the present Supreme Council
of Bengal respecting the conduct of the members of
the last administration, several charges have been
made, stating moneys very improperly received by
Mr. Hastings during the time of the late administration: amongst these is one of his having received 150,000 rupees of Munny Begum, the guardian of
the Nabob, who is an infant. "
In this statement of the case everything is put
out of its true place. Mr. Hastings was not charged
with receiving a lac and a half of rupees from
Munny Begum, the guardian of the Nabob, - for she
was not then his guardian; but he was charged with
? ? ? ? 260 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
receiving a lac and a half of rupees for removing
the Nabob's own mother, who was his natural guardian, and substituting this step-mother, who was a prostitute, in her place; whereas here it supposes lihe
found her a guardian, and that she had made him a
present, which alters the whole nature of the case.
The case, in the recital of the charge, sets out with
what every one of your Lordships knows now not to
be tlie truth of the fact, nor the thing that in itself
implies the criminality: he ought to have stated that
in the beginning of the business. The suppressions
in the recital are amazing. He states an inquiry
having been made by the Supreme Council of Bengal respecting the conduct of the members of the last administration. That inquiry was made in consequence of the charge, and not the charge brought forward, as they would have it believed, in consequence of the inquiry. There is no mention that
that inquiry had been expressly ordered by the Court
of Directors; but it is stated as though it was a
voluntary inquiry. Now there is always something
doubtful in voluntary inquiries with regard to the
people concerned. He then supposes, upon this inquiry, that to be the charge which is not the charge at all. The crime, as I have stated, consisted of
two distinct parts, but both inferring the same corruption: the first, two lac of rupees taken expressly for the nomination of this woman to this place; and
the other, one lac and a half of rupees, in effect for
the same purpose, but under the name and color of
an entertainment. The drawer of the case, finding
that in the one case, namely, the two lac of rupees,
the evidence was more weak, but that no justification could be set up, - finding in the other, the lac
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 261
and a half of rupees, the proof strong and not to be
resisted, but that some justification was to be found
for it, lays aside the charge of the two lac totally;
and the evidence belonging to it, which was considered as rather weak, is applied to the other charge of a lac and a half, the proof of which upon its own
evidence was irresistible.
My speech I hope your Lordships consider as only pointing out to your attention these particulars.
Your Lordships will see it exemplified throughout
the whole, that, when there is eviaence (for some
evidence is brought) that does belong to the lac and
a half, it is entirely passed by, the most material circumstances are weakened, the whole strength and force of them taken away. Every one knows how
true it is of evidence, junectajuvant: but here everything is broken and smashed to pieces, and nothillg but disorder appears through the whole. For your
Lordships will observe that the proof that belongs
to one thing is put as belonging to another, and the
proof of the other brought in a weak and imperfect
manner in the rear of the first, and with every kind
of observation to rebut and weaken it; and wher
this evidence is produced, which appears inapplicable
almost in all the parts, in many doubtful, confused,
and perplexed, and in some even contradictory,
(which it will be when the evidence to one thing
is brought to apply and bear upon another,) good
hopes were entertained in consequence that that
would happen which in part did happen, namely,
that the counsel, distracted and confused, and finding no satisfaction in the case, could not advise a prosecution.
But what is still more material and weighty, many
? ? ? ? 262 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
particulars are suppressed in this case, and still more
in the report; and turning from the case to the proceedings of the persons who are supposed to have the
management of the inquiry, they bring forward, as
an appendix to this case, Mr. Hastings's own invectives and charge against these persons, at the very
same time that they suppress and do not bring forward, either in the charge or upon the report, what
the other party have said in their own justification.
The consequence of this management was, that a
body of evidence which would have made this case
the clearest in the world, and which I hope we shall
make to appear so to your Lordships, was rendered
for the most part inapplicable, and the whole puzzled
and confused: I say, for the most part, for some
parts did apply, but miserably applied, to the case.
From their own state of the case they would have it
inferred that the fault was not in their way of representing it, but in the infirmity, confusion, and disorder of the proofs themselves; but this, I trust we shall satisfy you, is by no means the case. I rest,
however, upon the proof of partiality in this business, of the imposition upon the counsel, whether
designed or not, and of the bias given by adding an
appendix with Mr. Hastings's own remarks upon the
case, without giving the reasons of the other parties
for their conduct. Now, if there was nothing else
than the fallacious recital, and afterwards the suppression, I believe any rational and sober man would
see perfect, good, and sufficient ground for laying
aside any authority that can be derived from the
opinions of persons, though of the first character
(and I am sure no man living does more homage to
their learning, impartiality, and understanding than
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 263
I do): first, because the statement of the case has
thrown the whole into confusion; and secondly, as to
the matter added as an appendix, which gives the
representation of the delinquent and omits the representation of his prosecutors, it is observed very properly and very wisely by one of the great men
before whom this evidence was laid, that "the evidence, as it is here stated, is still more defective, if the appendix is adopted by the Directors and meant
to make a part of the case; for that throws discredit
upon all the information so collected. " Certainly it
does; for, if the delinquent party, who is to be prosecuted, be heard with his own representation of the case, and that of his prosecutors be suppressed, he
is master both of the lawyers and of the mind of
mankind.
My Lords, I have here attempted to point out the
extreme inconsistencies and defects of this proceeding; and I wish your Lordships to consider, with respect to these proceedings of the India House in their prosecutions, that it is in the power of some
of their officers to make statements in the manner
that I have described, then to obtain the names of
great lawyers, and under their sanction to carry the
accused through the world as acquitted.
These are the material circumstances which will
be submitted to your Lordships' sober consideration
in the course of this inquiry. I have now stated
them on these two accounts: first, to rebut the reason which Mr. Hastings has assigned for not giving
any satisfaction to the Court of Directors, namely,
because they did not want it, having dropped a prosecution upon great authorities and opinions; and
next,. to show your Lordships how a business begun
? ? ? ? 264 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
in bribery is to be supported only by fraud, deceit,
and collusion, and how the receiving of bribes by a
Governor-General of Bengal tends to taint the whole
service from beginning to end, both at home and
abroad.
But though upon the partial case that was presented to them these great lawyers did not advise
a prosecution, and though even upon a full representation of a case a lawyer might think that a man ought not to be prosecuted, yet he may consider him
to be the vilest man upon earth. We know men
are acquitted in the great tribunals in which several Lords of this country have presided, and who perhaps ought not to have been brought there and
prosecuted before them, and yet about whose delinquency there could be no doubt. But though we have here sufficient reason to justify the great lawyers whose names and authorities are produced, yet Mr. Hastings has extended that authority beyond the
length of their opinions. For, being no longer under the terror of the law, which, he said, restrained
him from making his defence, he was then bound to
give that satisfaction to his masters and the world
which every man in honor is bound to do, when a
grave accusation is brought against him. But this
business of the law I wish to sleep from this moment, till the time when it shall come before you; though I suspect, and have had reason (sitting in
committees in the House of Commons) to believe,
that there was in the India House a bond of iniquity, somewhere or other, which was able to impose
in the first instance upon the solicitor, the guilt of
which, being of another nature, I shall state hereafter,
that your Lordships may be able to discover tlhrough
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 265
whose means and whose fraud Mr. Hastings obtained
these opinions.
If, however, all the great lawyers had been unanimous upon that occasion, still it would have been necessary for Mr. Hastings to say, " I cannot, according to my opinion, be brought to give an account in a court of justice, and I have got great lawyers to
declare, that, upon the case laid before them, they
cannot advise a prosecution; but now is the time
for me to come forward, and, being no longer in
fear that my defence may be turned against me, I
will produce my defence for the satisfaction of my
masters and the vindication of my own character. "
But besides this doubtful opinion (for I believe your
Lordships will find it no better than a doubtftil opinion) given by persons for whom I have the highest honor, and given with a strong censure upon the
state of the case, there were also some great lawyers,
men of great authority in the kingdom, who gave a
full and decided opinion that a prosecution ought to
be instituted against him; but the Court of Directors decided otherwise, they overruled those opinions, and acted upon the opinions in favor of Mr. Hastings. When, therefore, he knew that the great men
in the law were divided upon the propriety of a prosecution, but that the Directors had decided in his favor, he was the more strongly bound to enter into
a justification of his conduct.
But there was another great reason which should
have induced him to do this. One great lawyer,
known to many of your Lordships, Mr. Sayer, a very
honest, intelligent man, who had long served the Company and well knew their affairs, had given an opinion concerning Mr. Hastings's conduct in stopping
? ? ? ? 266 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
these prosecutions. There was an abstract question
put to Mr. Sayer, and other great lawyers, separated
from many of the circumstances of this business, concerning a point which incidentally arose; and this was, whether Mr. Hastings, as Governor-General, had
a power so to dissolve the Council, that, if he declared
it dissolved, they could not sit and do any legal and
regular act. It was a great question with the lawyers
at the time, and there was a difference of opinion on
it. Mr. Sayer was one of those who were inclined to
be of opinion that the Governor-General had a power
of dissolving the Council, and that the Council could
not legally sit after such dissolution. But what was
his remark upon Mr. Hastings's conduct? - and you
must suppose his remark of more weight, because,
upon the abstract question, he had given his opinion
in favor of Mr. Hastings's judgment. " The meeting
of the Council depends on the pleasure of the Governor; and I think the duration of it must do so,
too. But it was as great a crime to dissolve the
Council upon base and sinister motives as it would
be to assume the power of dissolving, if he had it not.
I believe he is the first Governor that ever dissolved
a Council inquiring into his behavior, when lie was
innocent. Before lie could summon three Counicils
and dissolve them, he had time fully to consider what
would be the result of such conduct, to convince everybody, beyond a doubt,'of his conscious guilt. "
Mr. Sayer, then, among other learned people, (and
if he had not been the man that I have described, yet,
from his intimate connection with the Company, his
opinion must be supposed to have great weight,) having used expressions as strong as the persons who have ever criminated Mr. Hastings most for the worst
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 267
of his crimes have ever used to qualify and describe
them, and having ascribed his conduct to base and
sinister motives, he was bound upon that occasion to
justify that strong conduct, allowed to be legal, and
charged at the same time to be violent. Mr. Hastings
was obliged then to produce something in his justification. He never did. Therefore, for all the reasons assigned by himself, drawn from the circumstances of
prosecution and non-prosecution, and from opinions
of lawyers and colleagues, the Court of Directors at
the same time censuring his conduct, and strongly applauding the conduct of those who were adverse to him, Mr. Hastings was, I say, from those accumulated circumstances, bound to get rid of the infamy of
a conduct which could be attributed to nothing but
base and sinister motives, and which could have no
effect but to convince men of his consciousness that
he was guilty. From all these circumstances I infer
that no man could have endured this load of infamy,
and to this time have given no explanation of his conduct, unless for the reason which this learned counsel gives, and which your Lordships and the world will
give, namely, his conscious guilt.
After leaving upon your minds that presumption,
not to operate without proof, but to operate along
with the proof, (though, I take it, there are some presumptions that go the full length of proof,) I shall
not press it to the length to whiclf I think it would go,
but use it only as auxiliary, assisting, and compurgatory of all the other evidences that go along with it. There is another circumstance which must come
before your Lordships in this business. If you find
that Mr. Hastings has received the two lac of rupees,
then you will find that he was guilty, without color or
? ? ? ? 268 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
pretext of any kind whatever, of acting in violation of
his covenant, of acting in violation of the laws, and
all the rules of honor and conscience. If you find
that he has taken the lac and a half, which he admits,
but which he justifies under the pretence of an entertainment, I shall beg to say something to your Lordships concerning that justification.
The justification set up is, that he went up from
Calcutta to Moorshedabad, and paid a visit of three
months, and that there an allowance was made to him
of two hundred pounds a day in lieu of an entertainment. Now, my Lords, I leave it to you to determine,
if there was such a custom, whether or no his covenant justifies his conformity with it. I remember
Lord Coke, talking of the Brehon law in Ireland, says
it is no law, but a lewd custom. A governor is to
conform himself to the laws of his own country, to
the stipulations of those that employ him, and not to
the lewd customs of any other country: those customs
are more honored in the breach than in the observance. If Mr. Hastings was really feasted and entertained with the magnificence of the country, if there was an entertainment of dancing-girls brought out to
amuse him in his leisure hours, if he was feasted with
the hookah and every other luxury, there is something to be said for him, though I should not justify
a Governor-General wasting his days in that manner.
But in fact here was no entertainment that could
amount to such a sum; and he has nowhere proved
the existence of such a custom.
But if such a custom did exist, which I contend is
more honored in the breach than in the observance,
that custom is capable of being abused to the grossest
extortion; and that it was so abused will strike your
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 269
Lordships' minds in such a manner that I hardly need
detail the circumstances of it. What! two hundred
pounds to be given to a man for one day's entertainment? If there is an end of it there, it ruins nobody, and cannot be supposed, to a great degree, to corrupt
anybody; but when that entertainment is renewed
day after day for three months, it is no longer a compliment to the man, but a great pecuniary advantage, and, on the other hand, to the person giving it, a
grievous, an intolerable burden. It then becomes a
matter of the most serious and dreadful extortion,
tending to hinder the people who give it not only
from giving entertainment, but from having bread to
eat themselves. Therefore, if any such entertainment was customary, the custom was perverted by the abuse of its being continued for three months together. It was longer than Ahasuerus's feast. There is
a feast of reason and a flow of soul; but Mr. Hastings's feast was a feast of avarice and a flow of money. No wonder he was unwilling to rise from such a table:
he continued to sit at that table for three months.
In his covenant he is forbidden expressly to take
any allowance above 4001. , and forbidden to take
any allowance above 1001. , without the knowledge,
consent, and approbation of the Council to which he
belongs. Now he takes 16,0001. , not only without
the consent of the Council, but without their knowledge, -- without the knowledge of any other human being: it is kept hid in the darkest and most secret
recesses of his own black agents and confidants, and
those of Munny Begum. Why is it a secret? Hospitality, generosity, virtues of that kind, are full of
display; there is an ostentation, a pomp, in them;
they want to be shown to the world, not concealed.
? ? ? ? 270 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
The concealment of acts of charity is what makes
them acceptable in the eyes of Him with regard to
whom there can be no concealment; but acts of corruption are kept secret, not to keep them secret from the eye of Him, whom the person that observes the
secrecy does not fear, nor perhaps believe in, but to
keep them secret from the eyes of mankind, whose
opinions he does fear, in the immediate effect of
them, and in their future consequences. Therefore
he had but one reason to keep this so dark and profound a secret, till it was dragged into day in spite
of him; he had no reason to keep it a secret, but his
knowing it was a proceeding that could not bear the
light. Charity is the only virtue that I ever heard
of that derives from its retirement any part of its
lustre; the others require to be spread abroad in the
face of day. Such candles should not be hid under
a bushel, and, like the illuminations which men light
up when they mean to express great joy and great
magnificence for a great event, their very splendor is
a part of their excellence. We upon our feasts light
up this whole capital city; we in our feasts invite all
the world to partake them. Mr. Hastings feasts in
the dark; Mr. Hastings feasts alone; Mr. Hastings
feasts like a wild beast; he growls in the corner over
the dying and the dead, like the tigers of that country, who drag their prey into the jungles. Nobody knows of it, till he is brought into judgment for the
flock he has destroyed. His is the entertainment of
Tantalus; it is an entertainment from which the sun
hid his light.
But was it an entertainment upon a visit? Was
Mr. Hastings upon a visit? No: he was executing
a commission for the Company in a village in the
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 271
neighborhood of Moorshedabad, and. by no means upon a visit to the Nabob. On the contrary, he was upon something i;lat might be more properly called a
visitation. He came as a heavy calamity, like a famine or a pestilence on a country; he came there to
do the severest act in the world, -as he himself expresses, to take the bread, literally the bread, from
above a thousand of the nobles of the country, and to
reduce them to a situation which no man can hear
of without shuddering. When you consider, that,
while he was thus entertained himself, he was famishing fourteen hundred of the nobility and gentry
of the country, you will not conceive it to be any
extenuation of his crimes, that he was therey not upon a visit, but upon a duty, the harshest that could
be executed, both to the persons who executed and
the people who suffered from it.
It is mentioned and supposed in the observations
upon this case, though no circumstances relative to
the persons or the nature of the visit are stated, that
this expense was something which he mlight have
charged to the Company and did not. It is first supposed by the learned counsel who made the observation, that it was a public, allowed, and acknowledged thing; then, that he had not charged the Company anything for it. I have looked into that
business. In the first place, I see no such custom;
and if there was such a custom, there was the most
abusive misemployment of it. I find that in that
year there was paid from the Company's cash account to the Governor's travelling charges (and he
had no other journey at that end of the year)
thirty thousand rupees, which is about 3,0001. ; and
when we consider that lie was in the receipt of near
? ? ? ? 272 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
30,0001. , besides the nuzzers, which amount to several thousand a year, and that he is allowed 3,0001.
by the Company for his travelling expenses, is it
right to charge upon the miserable people whom he
was defrauding of their bread 16,0001. for his entertainment?
I find that there are also other great sums relative
to the expenses of the Committee of Circuit, which
he was upon. How much of them is applicable to
him I know not. I say, that the allowance of three
thousand pounds was noble and liberal; for it is not
above a day or two's journey to Moorshedabad, and
by his taking his road by Kishenagur he could not
be longer. He had a salary to live upon, and he
must live somewhere; and he was actually paid three
thousand pounds for travelling charges for three
months, which was at the rate of twelve thousand
pounds a year: a large and abundant sum.
If you once admit that a man for an entertainment
shall take sixteen thousand pounds, there never will
be any bribe, any corruption, that may not be justified:
the corrupt man has nothing to do but to make a
visit, and then that very moment he may receive any
sum under the name of this entertainment; that moment his covenants are annulled, his bonds and obligations destroyed, the act of Parliament repealed, and it is no longer bribery, it is no longer corruption,
it is no longer peculation; it is nothing but thanks
for obliging inquiries, and a compliment according to
the mode of the country, by which he makes his fortune.
What hinders him from renewing that visit? If
you support this distinction, you will teach the Governor-General, instead of attending his business at
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 273
the capital, to make journeys through the country,
putting every great man of that country under the
most ruinous contributions; and as this custom is in
no manner confined to the Governor-General, but
extends, as it must upon that principle, to every
servant of the Company ill ally station whatever,
then, if each of them were to receive all entertainlment, I will venture to say that the greatest ravage of an hostile army could not, indeed, destroy the
country more entirely than the Company's servants
by such visits.
Your Lordships will see that there are grounds for
suspicion, not supported with the same evidence, but
with evidence of great probability, that there was another entertainment given at the expense of another lac of rupees; and there is also great probability that
Mr. Hastings received two lac of rupees, and Mr.
Middleton another lac. The whole of the Nabob's
revenues would have been exhausted by these two
men, if they had stayed there a whole year: and they
stayed three months. Nothing will be secured from
the Company's servants, so long as they can find,
under this name, or under pretence of any corrupt
custom of the country, a vicious excuse for this corrupt practice. The excuse is worse than the thing itself. I leave it, then, with your judgment to decide
whether you. will or not, if this justification comes before you, establish a principle which would put all Bengal in a worse situation than an hostile army could do, and ruin all the Company's servants by sending them from their duty to go round robbing the whole country under the name of entertainments.
My Lords, I have now done with this first part, -- namely, the presumption arising from his refusal to VOL. X. 18
? ? ? ? 274 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
make any defence, on pretence that the charge brought against him might be referred to a court of justice,
and from the non-performance of his promise to give satisfaction to his employers, - and when that pretence was removed, still refusing to give that satisfaction, though suffering as he did uinder a load of infamy
and obloquy, and though urged to give it by persons
of the greatest character. I have stated this to your Lordships as the strongest presumption of guilt, and that this presumption is strengthened by the very excuse which he fabricated for a part of his bribes, when he knew that the proof of them was irresistible, and that this excuse is a high aggravation of his
guilt, - that this excuse is not supported by law,
that it is not supported by reason, that it does not
stand with his covenant, but carries with it a manifest proof of corruption, and that it cannot be justified
by any principle, custom, or usage whatever. My
Lords, I say I have done with the presumption arising from his conduct as it regarded the fact specifically charged against him, and with respect to the relation
he stood in to the Court of Directors, and from the attempt he made to justify that conduct. I believe
your Lordships will think both one and the other
strong presumptions of his criminality, and of his knowledge that the act he was doing was criminal.
I have another fact to lay before your Lordships,
which affords a further presumption of his guilt, and which will show the mischievous consequences of it; and I trust your Lordships will not blame me for
going a little into it. Your Lordships know we
charge that the appointment of such a woman as Munny Begum to the guardianship of the Nabob, to
the superintendency of the civil justice of the coun
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 275
try, and to the representation of the whole government, was made for no other purpose than that
through this corrupt woman sixteen thousand pounds
a year, the whole tattered remains of the Nabob's
grandeur, might be a prey to Mr. Hastings: it could
be for no other. Now your Lordships would imagine,
that, after this, knowing he was already grievously suspected, he would have abstained from giving any further ground for suspicion by a repetition of the same acts through the same person; as no other reason
could be furnished for such acts, done directly contrary to the order of his superiors, but that he was
actuated by the influence of bribery. Your Lordships would imagine, that, when this Munny Begum
was removed upon a charge of corruption, Mr. Hastings would have left her quiet in tranquil obscurity,
and that he would no longer have attempted to elevate her into a situation which furnished against
himself so much disgrace and obloquy to himself,
and concerning which he stood charged with a direct and positive act of bribery. Your Lordships well
know, that, upon the deposition of that great magistrate, Mahomed Reza Khan, this woman was appointed to supply his place. The Governor-General and Council (the majority of them being then Sir John
Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis) had
made a provisional arrangement for the time, until
they should be authorized to fill up the place in a
proper manner. Soon after, there came from Europe
a letter expressing the satisfaction which the Court
of Directors had received in the acquittal of Mahomed
Reza Khan, expressing a regard for his character, an
high opinion of his abilities, and a great disposition
to make him some recompense for his extreme suffer
? ? ? ? 276 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
ings; and accordingly they ordered that he should be
again employed. Having no exact ideas of the state
of employments in that country, they made a mistake in the specific employment for which they
named him; for, being a Mahometan, and the head
of the Mahometans in that country, he was named to
an office which must be held by a Gentoo. But the
majority I have just named, who never endeavored
by any base and delusive means to fly from their
duty, or not to execute it at all, because they were
desired to execute it in a way in which they could
not execute it, followed the spirit of the order; and
finding that Mahomed Reza Khan, before his imprisonment and trial, had been in possession of another
employment, they followed the spirit of the instructions of the Directors and replaced him in that employment: by which means there was an end put to the government of Munny Begum, the country
reverted to its natural state, and men of the first
rank in the country were placed in the first situations
in it. The seat of judicature was filled with wisdom,
gravity, and learning, and Munny Begum sunk into
that situation into which a woman who had been
engaged in the practices that she had been engaged
in naturally would sink at her time of life. Mr.
Hastings resisted this appointment. He trifled with
the Company's orders on account of the letter of
them, and endeavored to disobey the spirit of them.
However, the majority overbore him; they put Mahomed Reza Khan into his former situation; and as
a proof and seal to the honor and virtue of their
character, there was not a breath of suspicion that
they had any corrupt motive for this conduct. They
were odious to many of the India House here; they
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 277
were odious to that corrupt influence which had
begun and was going on to ruin India; but in the
face of all this odium, they gave the appointment to
Mahomed Reza Kh. an, because the act contained in
itself its own justification. Mr. Hastings made a violent protest against it. and resisted it to the best of his power, always in favor of Munny Begum, as
your Lordships will see. Mr. Hastings sent this protest to the Directors; but the Directors, as soon as the case came before them, acknowledged their error, and praised the majority of the Council, Sir John Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis, for the
wise and honorable part they had taken upon the occasion, by obeying the spirit and not the letter, -- commended the act they had done, - confirmed Mahomed Reza Khan in his place, -- and to prevent that great man from being any longer the sport of
fortune, any longer the play of avarice between corrupt governors and dancing-girls, they gave him the pledged faith of the Company that he should remain
in that office as long as his conduct deserved their
protection: it was a good and an honorable tenure.
My Lords, soon afterwards there happened two
lamentable deaths, -first of Colonel Monson, afterwards of General Clavering. Thus Mr. Hastings
was set loose: there was an inspection and a watch
upon his conduct, and no more. He was then just
in the same situation in which he had stood in 1772.
What does he do? Even just what he did in 1772.
He deposes Mahomed Reza Khan, notwithstanding
the Company's orders, notwithstanding their pledged
faith; he turns him out, and makes a distribution of
two lacs and a half of rupees, the salary of that great
magistrate, in the manner I will now show your
? ? ? ? 278 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Lordships. He made ain arrangement consisting ot
three main parts: the first was with regard to the womell, the next with regard to the magistracy, the
last with regard to the officers of state of the household. The first person that occurred to Mr. Hastings was Munny Begum; and he gave her, not out of that part
of the Nabob's allowance which was to support the
seraglio, but out of the allowance of this very magistrate, just as if such a thing had been done here out of the salary of a Lord Chancellor or a Lord ChiefJustice, - out of these two lacs and a half of rupees,
that is, about twenty-four or twenty-five thousand
pounds a year, he ordered an allowance to be made
to Munny Begum of 72,000 rupees per annum, or
7,2001. a year; for the Nabob's own mother, whom
he thrust, as usual, into a subordinate situation, he
made an allowance of 3,0001. ; to the Sudder ul i[uk
Khlan, which is, translated into English, the Lord
Chief-Justice, he allowed the same sum that he did
to the dancing-girl, (which was very liberal in him,
and I am rather astonished to find it,) namely,
7,2001. a year. And who do you think was the next
public officer he appointed? It was the Rajah Gourdas, the son of Nundcomar, and whose testimony he has attempted both before and since this occasion to
weaken. To him, however, he gave an employment
of 6,0001. a year, as if to make through the son some
compensation to the manes of the father. And in
this manner he distributes, with a wild and liberal
profusion, between magistrates and dancing-girls, the
whole spoil of Mahomed Reza Khan, notwithstanding the Company's direct and positive assurance given to him. Everything was done, at the same time, to
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 279
put, as it was before, into the hands of this dancinggirl the miserable Nabob's whole family; and that
the fund for corruption might be large enough, he
did not take the money for this dancing-girl out of
the Nabob's separate revenue, of which he and the
dancing-girl had the private disposal between them.
Now upon what pretence did he do all this? The
Nabob had represented to Mr. Hastings that he was
now of age, - that he was an independent, sovereign
prince, - that, being independent and sovereign in
his situation, and being of full age, he had a right to
manage his own concerns himself; and therefore he
desired to be admitted to that management. And,
indeed, my Lords, ostensibly, and supposing him to
have been this independent prince, and that the
Company had no authority or had never exercised
any authority over him through Mr. Hastings, there
might be a good deal said in favor of this request.
But what was the real state of the case? The Nabob
was a puppet in the hands of Mr. Hastings and Munny Begunm; and you will find, upon producing the
correspondence, that lie confesses that she was the
ultimate object and end of this request.
I think this correspondence, wherein a son is made
to petition, in his own name, for the elevation of a
dancing-girl, his step-mother, above himself and everybody else, will appear to your Lordships such a curiosity as, I believe, is not to be found in the state correspondence of the whole world. The Nabob begins thus: -" The excellency of that policy by which her
Highness the Begum" (meaning Munny Begum)
" (may her shadow be far extended! ) formerly, during the time of her administration, transacted the
affairs of the nizamut in the very best and most ad
? ? ? ? 280 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
vantageous manner, was, by means of the delusions of
enemies disguised under the appearance of friends,
hidden from me. Having lately seriously reflected
on my own affairs, I am convinced that it was the
effect of maternal affection, was highly proper, and
for my interest, - and that, except the said Begum is
again invested with the administration, the regulation
and prosperity of this family, which is in fact her
own, cannot be effected. For this cause, from the
time of her suspension until now, I have passed my
time, and do so still, in great trouble and uneasiness.
As all affairs, and particularly the happiness and
prosperity of this family, depend on your pleasure, I
now trouble you, in hopes that you, likewise concurring in this point, will be so kind as to write in fit and proper terms to her Highness the Begum, that
she will always, as formerly, employ her authority in
the administration of the nizamut and the affairs of
this family. "
This letter, my Lords, was received upon the 23d
of August; and your Lordships may observe two
things in it: first, that, some way or other, this Nabob had been (as the fact was) made to express his desire of being released from his subjection to the
Munny Begum, but that now he has got new lights,
all the mists are gone, and he now finds that Munny Begum is not only the fittest person to govern him, but the whole country. This young man, whose
inlcapacity is stated, and never denied, by Mr. Hastinlgs, and by Lord Cornwallis, and by all the rest of the world who know him, begins to be charmed
with the excellency of the policy of Munny Begum.
Such is his violent impatience, such the impossibility of his existing an hour but under the govern
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. -SECOND DAY. 281
tnent of Munny Begum, that he writes again on the
25th of August, (hle had really the impatience of a
lover,) and within five days afterwards writes again,
- so impatient, so anxious and jealous is this young
man to be put under the government of an old dancing-woman. He is afraid lest Mr. Hastings should imagine that some sinister influence had prevailed
upon him in so natural and proper a request. He
says, "Knowing it for my interest and advantage
that the administration of the affairs of the nizamut
should be restored to her Highness the Munny Begum, I have already troubled you with my request, that, regarding my situation with an eye of favor,
you will approve of this measure. I am credibly
informed that some one of my enemies, from selfish
views, has, for the purpose of oversetting this measure, written you that the said Begum procured from me by artifice the letter I wrote you on this subject.
This caulses me the. greatest astonishment. Please to
consider, that artifice and delusion are confined to
cheats and impostors, and can never proceed from
a person of such exalted rank, who is the head and
patron of all the family of the deceased Nabob, my
father,- and that to be deluded, being a proof of
weakness and folly, can have no relation to me, except the inventor of this report considers me as void of understanding, and has represented me to the gentlemen as a blockhead and an idiot. God knows how harshly such expressions appear to me; but, as the
truth. or falsehood has not yet been fully ascertained,
I have therefore suspended my demand of satisfaction. Should it be true, be so kind as to inform me
of it, that the person may be made to answer for it. "
My Lords, here is a very proper demand. The
? ? ? ? 282 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Nabob is astonished at the suspicion, that such a
woman as Munny Begum, whose trade in youth had
been delusion, should be capable of deluding anybody.
Astonishing it certainly was, that a woman who had
been a deluder in youth should be suspected to be
the same in old age, and that he, a young man,
should be subject to her artifices. "They must suspect me to be a great blockhead," he says, " if a man of my rank is to be deluded. " There he forgot
that it is the unhappy privilege of great men to be
cheated, to be deluded, much more than other persons; but he thought it so impossible in the case
of Munny Begum, that he says, " Produce me the
traitor that could suppose it possible for me to be deluded, when I call for this woman as the governor of the country. I demand satisfaction. " I rather wonder that Mr. Hastings did not inform him who it was that had reported so gross and improbable a tale,
and deliver him up to the fury of the Nabob.
Mr. Hastings is absolutely besieged by him; for
he receives another letter upon the 3d of September.
Here are four letters following one another quick as
p)ost expresses with horns sounding before them. " Oh,
I die, I perish, I sink, if Munny Begum is not put
into the government of the country! -- I therefore
desire to have her put into the government of the
country, and that you will not keep me longer in this
painful suspense, but will be kindly pleased to write
immediately to the Munny Begum, that she take on
herself the administration of the affairs of the nizamut, which is, in fact, her own family, without the interference of any other person whatever: by this
you will give me complete satisfaction. " Here is a
correspondence more like an amorous than a state
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE. - SECOND DAY. 283
correspondence. What is this man so eager about,
what in such a rage about, that he cannot endure
the smallest delay of the post with common patience?
Why, lest this old woman (who is not his mother, and
with whom he had no other tie of blood) should not
be made mistress of himself and the whole country!
However, in a very few months afterwards he himself
is appointed by Mr. Hastings to the government; and
you may easily judge by the preceding letters who
was to govern. It would be an affront to your Lordships' judgment to attempt to prove who was to govern, after he had desired to put the whole government of affairs into the hands of Munny Begum.
