and which the persons
concerned
in them
have avowed as a principle of their actions, --that
?
have avowed as a principle of their actions, --that
?
Edmund Burke
?
SPEECH IN OPENING.
-SECOND DAY.
413
the most important of all, was yet wanting. A pause
ensued: Major Calliaud's seal was not at hand;
but Mr. Lushington was sent near half a mile to
bring it. It was brought at length; and the instrument of blood and treachery was completely executed. Three seals were set to it.
This business of the three seals, by some means not
quite fully explained, but (as suspected by the parties)
by means of the information of Mr. Holwell, who soon
after came home, was conveyed to the ears of the
Court of Directors. The Court of Directors wrote
out, under date of the 7th of October, 1761, within a
little more than a year after this extraordinary transaction, to this effect: -- that, in conjunction with the
Nabob, Major Calliaud had signed a paper offering a
reward of a lac of rupees, or some such sum, to several black persons, for the assassination of the Shahzada, or Prince heir-apparent, - which paper was offered to the then Chief of Patna to sign, but which he refused on account of the infamy of the'measure.
As it appeared in the same light to them, the Directors, they ordered a strict inquiry into it. The India
Company, who here did their duty with apparent manliness and vigor, were resolved, however, to do it with
gentleness, and to proceed in a manner that could not
produce any serious mischief to the parties charged;
for they directed the commission of inquiry to the
very clan and set of people who, from a participation
in their common offences, stood in awe of one another, - in effect, to the parties in the transaction.
Without a prosecutor, without an impartial director
of the inquiry, they left it substantially to those persons to try one another for their common acts. .
Here I come upon the principle which I wish most
? ? ? ? 414 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
strongly to mark to your Lordships: I mean collusive trials and collusive acquittals. When this matter came to be examined, according to the orders of the
Court, which was on the 4th lof October, 1762, the
Council consisted of Peter Maguire, Warren Hastings,
and Hugh Watts. Mr. Hastings had by this time accomplished the business of Resident with the Nabob, and had taken the seat to which his seniority entitled
hiln in Council. Here a difficulty arose in limine.
Mr. Hastings was represented to have acted as interpreter in this business; he was therefore himself an object of the inquisition; he was doubtful as evidence;
lie was disqualified as a judge. It likewise appeared
that there might be some objection to others whose
evidence was wanting, but who were themselves concerned in the guilt. ' Mr. Lushington's evidence would be useful, but there were two circumstances
rather unlucky. First, he had put the seal to the instrument of murder; and, secondly, and what was most material, he had made an affidavit at Patna,
whilst the affair was green and recent, that he had
done so; and in the same affidavit had deposed that
Warren Hastings was interpreter in that transaction.
Here were difficulties both on him and Mr. Hastings.
The question was, how to get Mr. Hastings, the interpreter, out of his interpretation, and to put him upon the seat of judgment. It was effected, however, and
the manner in which it was effected was something
curious. Mr. Lushington, who by this time was got
completely over, himself tells you that in conferences
with Major Calliaud, and by arguments and reasons
by him delivered, he was persuaded to unsay his
swearing, and to declare that he believed that the
affidavit which he made at Patna, and while the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 415
transaction was recent or nearly recent, must be a
mistake: that he believed (what is amazing indeed for
any belief) that not Mr. Hastings, but he himself,
interpreted. Mr. Lushington completely loses his own
memory, and he accepts an offered, a given memory,
a memory supplied to him by a party in the transaction. By this operation all difficulties are removed: Mr. Hastings is at once put into the capacity of a
judge. He is declared by Mr. Lushington not to have
been an interpreter in the transaction. After this,
Mr. Hastings is himself examined. Your Lordships
will look at the transaction at your leisure, and I
think you will consider it as a pattern for inquiries
of this kind. Mr. Hastings is examined: he does not
recollect. His memory also fails on a business in
which it is not easy to suppose a man could be doubtful, - whether he was present or not: he thinks he was not there, -for that, if he had been there, and
acted as interpreter, he could not have forgot it.
I think it is pretty nearly as I state it: if I have
fallen into any error or inaccuracy, it is easily rectified; for here is the state of the transaction given by the parties themselves. On this inaccurate memory
of Mr. Hastings, not venturing, however, to say positively that he was not the interpreter, or that he was not present, he is discharged from being an accomplice, - he is removed from the bar, and leaps upon the'seat of justice. The court thus. completed, Major
Calliaud comes manfully forward to make his defence.
Mr. Lushington is taken off his back in the manner
we have seen, and no one person remains but Captain Knox. Now, if Captain Knox was there and assenting, he is an accomplice too. Captain Knox
asserts, that, at the consultation about the murder, he
? ? ? ? 416 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
said it was a pity to cut off so fine a young fellow
in such a manner,- meaning that fine young fellow
the Prince, the descendant of Tamerlane, the present
reigning Mogul, from whom the Company derive their
present charter. The purpose to be served by this
declaratio. n, if it had ally purpose, was, that Captainl
Knox did not assent to the murder, and that therefore his evidence might be valid.
The defence set up by Major Calliaud was to this
effect. He was apprehensive, he said, that the Nabob
was alarmed at the violent designs that were formed
against him by Mr. Holwell, and that therefore, to
quiet his mind, (to quiet it by a proposition compounded of murder and treason, - an odd kind of mind he had that was to be quieted by such means! )
- but to quiet his mind, and to show that the English were willing to go all lengths with him, to sell body and soul to him, he did put his seal to this
extraordinary agreement, he put his seal to this wonderful paper. He likewise stated, that he was of opinion at the time that nothing at all sinister could
happen from it, that no such murder was likely to
take place, whatever might be the intention of the
parties. In fact, he had very luckily said in a letter
of his, written a day after the setting the seal, "I
think nothing will come of this matter, but it is
no harm to try. " This experimental treache. ry, and
these essays of conditional murder, appeared to him
good enough to make a trial of; but at the same time
he was afraid nothing would come of it. In general,
the whole gest of his defence comes to one point, in
which he persists, - that, whatever the act might
be, his mind is clear: " My hands are guilty, but my
heart is free. " He conceived that it would be very
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 417
Improper, undoubtedly, to do such an act, if he suspected anything could happen from it: he, however,
let the thing out of his own hands; he put it into the
haIrds of others; he put the commission into the hands
of a murderer. The fact was not denied; it was fully
before these severe judges. The extenuation was the
purity of his heart, and the bad situation of the Company's affairs, - the perpetual plea, which your Lordships will hear of forever, and which if it will justify evil actions, they will take good: care that the most
nefarious of their deeds shall never want a sufficient
justification. But then he calls upon his life and, his
character to oppose to his seal; and though he has
declared that. Mr. Holwell had intended ill to the Nabob, and that he approved of those measures, and only
postponed them, yet he thought it necessary, he says,
to quiet the fears of the Nabob; and from this motive
he did an act abhorrent to his nature, and which, he
says, he expressed his abhorrence of the morning after he signed it: not that he did so; but if he had, I
believe it would only have made the thing so many
degrees worse. Your Lordships will observe, that, in
this conference, as stated by himself, these reasons
and apologies for it did not appear, nor did they appear in the letter, nor anywhere else, till next year,
when he came upon his. trial. Then it was immediately recollected that Mr. Holwell's designs were so
wicked they certainly must be known to the Nabob,
though he never mentioned them in the conference
of the morning or the evening of the 15th; yet such
was now the weight and prevalence of them upon the
Major's mind, that he calls upon Mr. Hastings to,
know whether the Nabob was not informed of these
designs of Mr. Holwell against him. Mr. Hastings's,
VOL. IX. 27
? ? ? ? 418 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
memory was not quite correct upon the occasion.
He does not recollect anything of the matter. He
certainly seems not to thlink that he ever mentioned
it to the Nabob, or the Nabob to him; but he does
recollect, he thinks, speaking something to some of
the Nabob's attendants upon it, and further this deponent sayeth not. On this state of things, namely,
the purity of intention, the necessities of the Company,
tle propriety of keeping the Nabob in perfect goodhumor and removing suspicions from his mind, which
suspicions lie had never expressed, they came to the
resolution I shall have the honor to read to you:
"That the representation, giveni in the said defence,
of the state of the affairs of the country at that time"
(that is, about the month of April, 1760) "is true
and just" (that is, the bad state of the country,
which we shall consider hereafter); "that, in such,circumstances, the Nabob's urgent account of his own,distresses, the Colollel's desire of making him easy," (for here is a recapitulation of the whole defence,)
" as the first thing necessary for the good of the service, and the suddenness of the thing proposed, might
deprive him for a moment of his recollection, and
-surprise him into a measure which, as to the measure itself, he could not approve. That such only
were the motives which did or could influence Colonel'Calliaud to assent to the proposal is fully evinced by
the deposition of Captain Knox and Mr. Lushington,
that his [Calliaud's] coniscience, at the time. never reproached him with a bad design. "
Your Lordships have heard of the testimony of a
person to his own conscience; but the testimony of another man to any ole's conscience - this is the first
time, I believe, it ever a p,peared in a judicial proceed
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 419
ing. It is natural to say, " My conscience acquits
me of it"; but they declare, that "his conscience
never reproached him with a bad design, -and therefore, upon the whole, they are satisfied that his intention was good, though he erred in the measure. " I beg leave to state one thing that escaped me:
that the Nabob, who was one of the parties to the
design, was, at the time of the inquiry, a sort of
prisoner or an exile at Calcutta; that his moonshee
was there, or might have been had; and that his spy
was likewise there; and that they, though parties to
this transaction, were never called to account for it
in any sense or in any degree, or to show how far it
was necessary to quiet the Nabob's mind.
The accomplices, by acquitting him upon their testinmony to his conscience, did their business nobly.
But the good Court of Directors, who were so easily
satisfied, so ready to condemn at the first proposition
and so ready afterwards to acquit, put the last finishing hand of a master to it. For the accomplices
acquit him of evil intentions and excuse his act.
The Court of Directors, disapproving indeed the
measure, but receiving the testimony of his conscience in justification of his conduct, and taking
up the whole ground, honorably acquit him, and
commend this action as an instance of heroic zeal
in their service.
The great end and purpose for which 1 produce
this to your Lordships is to show you the necessity
there is for other inquiries, other trials, other acquittals,of parties, than those made by a collusive clan
abroad, or by the Directors at home, who had required
the parties to inquire of themselves, and to take the
testimony of the judges at second-hand, as to the
? ? ? ? '420 IMPEACHMENT OF. WARREN HASTINGS.
conscience of the ~party accused, respecting acts which
neither they nor any man living can look upon but
with horror.
I have troubled your Lordships with the story of
the Three Seals, as a specimen of the then state of
the service, and the politics of the servants, civil and
military, in the horrid abuses which then- prevailed,
and which render at length the most rigorous reformation necessary. I close this episode to resume
the proceedings at the second revolution.
This affair of the three seals was, we have seen,
to quiet the fears of the Nabob. His fears it was
indeed necessary to quiet; for your Lordships will
see that the man whose fears were to be set asleep
by Major Calliaud's offering him, in a scheme for
murdering his sovereign, an odd sort of opiate,
made up of blood and treason, was now in a fair
way of being murdered himself by the machinations of him whose seal was set to his murderous
security of peace, and by those his accomplices, Holwell and Hastings: at least they resolved to put him
in a situation:in which his murder was in a manner
inevitable, as you will see in the sequel of the transaction. Now the plan proceeds. The parties continued in the camp; but there was another remora. To remove a nabob and to create a revolution is not
easy: houses are strong who have sons grown up with
vigor and fitness for the command of armies. They
are not easily overturned by removing the principal,
unless the secondary is got rid of: and if this remora
could be removed, everything was going on in a happy
way in the business. This plan, which now (that is,
about the month of July) began to get into great
ripeness and forwardness, Mr. Holwell urged forward,
Mr. Vansittart being hourly expected.
? ? ? ? SPEECH:IN OPENING. : -- SECOND DAY-. 421
I do not know whether I am going to state a thing,
though it is upon the records, which will not have too
theatrical an appearance for the grave state in which
we are. But here it is, -- the difficulty, the knot, and
the solution, as recorded by the parties themselves.
It was the object of this bold, desperate, designing
man, Cossim Ali KhAn, who aimed at everything,
and who scrupled not to do anything in attaining
what he aimed at,. to be appointed the lieutenant of
the Nabob Jaffier Ali, and thus to get possession of
his office during his lifetime under that name, with a
design of murdering him: for that office, according to
many usages of that country, totally supersedes the
authority of the first magistrate, renders him a cipher in his hand, gives the administration of his affairs and command of his troops to the lieutenant. It was
a part of his plan, that he was, after his appointment
to the lieutenancy, to be named to the succession of
the Nabob, who had several other children; but the
eldest son stood in the way.
But as things hastened to a crisis, this difficulty was
removed in the most extraordinary and providential
unheard-of manner, by the most extraordinary event
that, I believe, is recorded in history. Just in the
nick of time, in the moment of projection, on the 3d
of July, this Prince Meeran, in the flower of his age,
bold, active, enterprising, lying asleep in his tent, is
suddenly, without any one's knowing it, without any
alarm or menace in the heavens that ever was heard
of or mentioned, without any one whatever being
hurt or even alarmed in the camp, killed with a flash
of lightning. My Lords, thus was the Gordian knot
cut. This prince dies of a flash of lightning, and
Mr. Lushington (of whom you have heard) comes in
? ? ? ? 422 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the morning with his hair standing erect, comes
frightened into the presence of Major Calliaud, and,
with the utmost alarm, tells him of a circumstance
that was afterwards to give them so much pleasure.
The alarm was immediately communicated to the Major, who was seized with a fright; and fearing lest
the army should mutiny upon the death of their chief,
it was contrived, in a manner that I believe was most
difficult to contrive, that what might have excited a
general mutiny was concealed by the ability, the good
conduct, and dexterity of Major Calliaud for seven
days together, till he led the army out of the place
of danger. Thus a judgment fell upon one of the
(innocent) murderers in the scene of the Three Seals.
This man, who was probably guilty in his conscience
as well as in act, thus fell by that most lucky, providential, and most useful flash of lightning.
There were at that time, it seems, in Calcutta, a
wicked, skeptical set of people, who somehow or
other believed that human agency was concerned in
this elective flash, which came so very opportunely,
and which was a favor so thankfully acknowledged.
These wicked, ill-natured skeptics disseminated reports (which I am sure I do not mean to charge or
prove, leaving the effect of them to you) very dishonorable, I believe, to Cossim Ali Khan in the business, and to some Englishmen who were concerned. The difficulty of getting rid of Meeran being thus
removed, Mr. Vansittart comes upon the scene. I
verily believe he was a man of good intentions, and
rather debauched by that amazing flood of iniquity
which prevailed at that time, or hurried and carried
away with it. In a few days he sent for Major Calliaud. All his objections vanish inl an instant: like
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 423
that flash of lightnillg, everything is instant. The
Major agrees to perform his part. They send for
Cossim Ali AKhan and Mr. Hastings; they open a
treaty and conclude it with him, leaving the management of it to two persons, Mr. Holwell and another person, whoml we have heard of, anl Armenian, called
Coja Petruse, who afterwards played his part in another illustrious scene. By this Petruse and Mr. Ilolwell the matter is settled. The moment Mr.
Holwell is raised to be a Secretary of State, the revolution is accomplished. By it Cossim Ali Kh&n is
to have the lieutenancy at present, and the succession. Everything is put into his hands, and he is to makeo for it large concessions, which you will hear of
afterwards, to the Company. Cossim Ali IKh'hn proposed to Mr. Holwell, what would have been no bad supplement to the flash of lightning, the murder of
the Nabob; hut Mr. IHolwell was a man of too much
honor and conscience to suffer that. He instantly
flew out at it, and declared the whole business should
stop, unless the affair of the murder was given up.
Accordingly things were so settled. But if he gave
the Nabob over to an intended murderer, and delivered his person, treasure, and everything into his hands, Cossim Ali Kha'n might have had no great
reason to complain of being left to the execution of
his own projects in his own way. The treaty was
made, and amounted to this, -- that the Company
was to receive three great provinces: for here, as we
proceed, you will have an opportunity of observing,
with the progress of these plots, one thing which has
constantly and uniformly pervaded the whole of these
projects.
and which the persons concerned in them
have avowed as a principle of their actions, --that
? ? ? ? 424 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
they were first to take care of the Company's interest,
then of their own; that is, first to secure to the Company an enormous bribe; and under the shadow of
that bribe to take all the little emoluments they could
to themselves. Three great, rich, southern provinces,
maritime, or nearly mlaritime, Burdwan, Midnapoor,
and Chittagong, were to be dissevered from the Subah and to be ceded to the Company. There were
other minor stipulations, which it is not necessary at
present to trouble you with, signed, sealed, and executed at Calcutta between these parties with the greatest possible secrecy. The lieutenancy and the succession were secured to Cossim Ali, and he was likewise to give somewhere about the sum of 200,0001. to the gentlemen who were concerned, as a reward for
serving him so effectually, and for serving their country so well. Accordingly, these stipulations, actual
or understood, (for they were eventually carried into
effect,) being settled, a commission of delegation, consisting chiefly of Mr. Vanlsittart and Major Calliaud,
was sent up to Moorshedabad: the new Governor
taking this opportunity of paying the usual visit of
respect to the Nabob, and in a manner which a new
Governor coming into place would do, with the detail of which it is not necessary to trouble you. Mr.
Hastings was at this time at the durbar; and having
everything prepared, and the ground smoothed, they
first endeavored to persuade the Nabob to deliver
over the power negotiated for into the hands of their
friend Cossim Ali Khall. But when the old man,
frightened out of his wits, asked, 1' What is it ho has
bid for me? " and added, " I will give half as much
again to save myself; pray let me know what my
price is,"- -he entreated in vain. They were true,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 425
firm, and faithful to their word and their engagement,
When he saw they were resolved that he should be
delivered into the hands of Cossirn Ali Khan, he at
once surrenders the whole to him. They instantly
grasp it. He throws himself into a boat, and will
not remain at home an hour, but hurries down to
Calcutta to leave his blood at our door, if we should
have a mind to take it. But the life of the Nabob
was too great a stake (partly as a security for the
good behavior of Cossim Ali Kha'n, and still more
for the future use that might be made of him) to
be thrown away, or left in the hands of a man who
would certainly murder him, and who was very angry at being refused the murder of his father-inlaw. The price of this second revolution was, according to their shares in it, (I believe I have it here,) somewhere about 200,0001. This little effusion to private interest settled the matter, and here
ended the second revolution in the country: effected,
indeed, without bloodshed, but with infinite treachery,
with infinite mischief, consequent to the dismemberment of the country, and which had nearly become
fatal to our concerns tliere, like everything else in
which Mr. Hastings had any share.
This prince, Cossim Ali Khan, the friend of Mr.
Hastings, knew that those who could give could take
away dominion. He had scarcely got upon the
throne, procured for him by our public spirit and his
own iniquities, than he began directly and instantly
to fortify himself, and to bend all his politics against
those who were or could be the donors of such fatal
gifts. : He began with the natives who were in their
interest, and cruelly put to death, under the eye of
Mr. Hastings and his clan, all those who, by their
? ? ? ? 426 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
moneyed wealth or landed consideration, could give
any effect to their dispositions in favor of those ambitious strangers. He removed from Moorshedabad
higher up into the country, to Monghir, in order to
be more out of our view. He kept his word pretty
well, but not altogether faithfully, with the gentlemen; and though he had no money, for his treasury
was empty, he gave obligations which are known by
the name of jeeps- (the Indian vocabulary will by
degrees become familiar to your Lordships, as we develop the modes and customs of the country). As
soon as he had done this, he began to rack and tear
the provinces that were left to him, to get as much
from them as should compensate him for the revenues of those great provinces he had lost; and accordingly he began a scene of extortion, horrible, nefarious, without precedent or example, upon almost all the landed interest of that country. I mention this,
because he is one of those persons whose governments
Mr. Hastings, in a paper called his Defence, delivered
in to the House of Commons, has produced as precedents and examples which he has thought fit to follow, and which he thought would justify him in the
conduct he has pursued. This Cossine Ali Khan,
after he had acted the tyrant on the landed interest, fell upon the moneyed interest. In that country
there was a person called Juggut Seit. There were
several of the family, who were bankers to such a
magnitude as was never heard of in the world. Receivers of the public revenue, their correspondence
extended all over Asia; and there are those who are
of opinion that' the house of Juggut Seit, including
all its branches, was not worth less than six or seven
millions sterling. This house became the prey of
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -SECOND DAY. 427
Cossim Ali Khan; but Mr. Holwell had predicted
that it should be delivered over to Satan to be bufeted
(his own pious expression). He predicted the misfortunes that should befall them; and we chose a Satan to buffet them, and who did so buffet them, by
the murder of the principal'persons of the house, and
by robbing them of great sums of their wealth, that I
believe such a scene of nefarious tyranny, destroying
and cutting up the root of public credit in that country, was scarce ever known. In the mean time Cossin was extending his tyranny over all who were obnoxious to him; and the persons he first sought were those traitors who had been friends to the English.
Several of the principal of these he murdered. There
was in the province of Bahar a man named Ramarain; he had got the most positive assurances of English faith; but Mr. Macguire, a member of the Council, on the receipt of five thousand gold mohurs, or something more than 80001. sterling, delivered him
up to be first imprisoned, then tortured, then robbed
in consequence of the torture, and finally murdered,
by Cossim Ali Khan. In this way Cossiin Ali RKhan
acted, while our government looked on. I hardly
choose to mention to. you the fate of a certain native in consequence of a dispute with Mr. Mott, a
friend of Mr. Hastings, which is in the Company's
records, --records which are almost buried by their
own magnitude from the knowledge of this country. In a contest with this native for his house and
property, some scuffle having happened between the
parties, the one attempting to seize and the other
to defend, the latter made a complaint to the Nabob,
who was in an entire subjection at that time to the
English, and who ordered this unfortunate man, on
? ? ? ? 428 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
account' of this' very scuffle, arising from defending
his property, to be blown off from the mouth of a
cannon. In short, I am not able to tell youi Lordships of all the nefarious transactions of this man,
whom the intrigues of Mr. Holwell and Mr. Hastings
had set upon the throne of Bengal. But there is a
circumstance in this business that comes across here,
and will tend to show another grievance that vexed
that country, which vexed it long, and is one of the
causes of its chief disasters, and which, I fear, is not
so perfectly extirpated but that some part of its roots
may remain in the ground at this moment.
Commerce, which enriches every other country in
the world, was bringing Bengal to total ruin. The
Company,- in former times, when it had no sovereignty or power in -the country, had large privileges under their: dustuck, or permit: their goods passed,
without'paying duties, through the country. The
servants- of the Company made use of this dustuck
for their- own private trade, which, while it was
used with moderation, the native government winked
at' in some degree; but when it got wholly into private. hands, it was more like robbery than trade.
These traders appeared everywhere; they sold at
their own prices, and forced the people to sell to
them at their own prices. also. It appeared more
like an- army going to pillage the people, under
pretence' of commerce, than anything else. In vain
the people claimed the protection of their own country courts. This English army of traders in their march ravaged worse than a Tartarian conqueror.
The trade they carried on, and which more resembled robbery than commerce, anticipated the resources of the tyrallt,'anld threatened to leave him no mate
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -SECOND DAY. 429
rials for imposition or confiscation. Thus this miserable country was torn to pieces by the horrible
rapaciousness of a double tyranny. This appeared
to be so strong a case, that a deputation was sent
to him at his new capital, Monghir, to form a treaty
for the purpose of giving some relief against this cruel, cursed, and oppressive trade, which was worse
even than the tyranny of the sovereign. This trade
Mr. Vansittart, the President about this time, that
is, in 1763, who succeeded to Mr. Holwell, and was
in close union of interests with the tyrant Cossim
Ali Khan, by a treaty known by the name of the
treaty of Monghir, agreed very much to suppress
and to confine within something like reasonable
bounds. There never was a doubt on the face of
that treaty, that it was a just, proper, fair transac --
tion. But as nobody iii Bengal did then believe
that rapine was ever forborne but in favor of bribery, the persons who lost every advantage by the
treaty of Monghir, when they thought they saw corrupt negotiation carrying away the prizes of unlawful commerce, and were likely to see their trade crippled by Cossim Ali Khan, fell into a most violent fury at this treaty; and as the treaty was made
without the concurrence of the rest of the Council,
the Company's servants grew divided: one part were
the advocates of the treaty, the other of the trade.
The latter were universally of opinion that the treaty was bought for a great sum of money. - The evidence we have on -our records of the sums of money that are stated to have been paid on this occasion
has never been investigated to the bottom; but we
have it on record, that a great sum (70,0001. ) was
paid to persons concerned in that negotiation. The
? ? ? ? 430 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
rest were exceedingly wroth to see themselves not
profiting by the negotiation, and losing the trade, or
likely to be excluded from it; and they were the
more so, because, as we have it upon our journals,
during all that time the trade of the negotiators was
not proscribed, but a purwannah was issued by Cossim Ali Khan, that the trade of his friends Mr.
Vansittart and Mr. Hastings should not be subject
to the general regulations. This filled the whole
settlement with ill blood; but inl the regulation itself
(I put the motive and the secret history out of the
case) undoubtedly Mr. Hastings and Mr. Vansittart
were on the right side. They had shown to a demonstration the mischief of this trade. However,
as the other party were strong, and did not readily
let go their hold of this great advantage, first, dissensions, murmurs, various kinds of complaints, and
ill blood arose. Cossim Ali was driven to the wall;
and having at the same time made what he thought
good preparations, a war broke out at last. And
how did it break out? This Cossim Ali Khan
signalized his first acts of hostility by an atrocity
committed against the faith of treaties, against the
rules of war, against every principle of honor. This
intended murderer of his father-in-law, whom MZr.
Hastings had assisted to raise to the throne of
Bengal, well knowing his character and his disposition, and well knowing what such a man was capable of doing, --this man massacred the English wherever he met them. There were two hundred,
or thereabouts, of the Company's servants, or their dependants, slaughtered at Patna with every circumstance of the most abominable cruelty. Their limbs were cut to pieces. The tyrant whom Mr. Hastings
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 431
set up cut and hacked the limbs of British subjects
in the most cruel and perfidious manner, threw them
into wells, and polluted the waters of the country
with British blood. Immediately war is declared.
against him in form. That war sets the whole
country in a blaze; and then other parties begin to
appear upon' the scene, whose transactions you will
find yourselves deeply concerned in hereafter.
As soon as war was declared against Cossim, it
was necessary to resolve to put up another Nabob,
and to have another revolution: and where do they
resort, but to the man whom, for his alleged tyranny,
for his incapacity, for the numberless iniquities he
was said to have committed, and for his total unfitness and disinclination to all the duties of government, they had dethroned? This very man they
take up again, to place on the throne from which
they had about two years before' removed him, and
for the effecting of which they had committed so many iniquities. Even this revolution was not made
without being paid for. According to the usual order of procession, in which the youngest walk first,
first comes the Company; and the Company had secured to it in perpetuity those provinces which Cossim Ali Khan had ceded, as it was thought, rather in the way of mortgage than anything else. Then, under the name of compensation for sufferings to the
people concerned in the trade, and in the name of
donation to an army and a. navy which had little to
do in this affair, they tax him --what sum do you
think? They tax that empty and undone treasury of
that miserable and undone country 500,0001. for a
private emolument to themselves, -- for the compensation for this iniquitous trade, - for the compensa
? ? ? ? 432 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
tion for abuses of which he was neither the author nor
the abettor, they tax this miserable prince 500,Q001.
That sum was given to individuals. Now comes the
Company at home, which, on hearing this news, was
all inflamed. The Directors were on fire. They were
shocked at it, and particularly at this donation to
the army and navy. They resolved they would give
it no countenance and support. ' In the mean time
the gentlemen did not trouble their heads uponl that
subject, but meant to exact and get their 500,0001.
as they could.
Here was a third revolution, bought at this amazing sum, and this poor, miserable prince first. dragged
from Moorshedabad to Calcutta, then dragged back
from. Calcutta to AMoorshedabad, the sport of fortune
and the plaything of avarice. This poor man is again
set up, but is left with no authority: his troops limited, - his person, everything about him, in a manner subjugated, - a British Resident the master of his court: he is set up as a pageant on this throne,
with no other authority but what would be sufficient
to give a countenance to presents, gifts, and donations.
That authority was always left, when all the rest was
taken away. One would have thought that this revolution might have satisfied these gentlemen, and that
the money gained by it would have been sufficient.
No. The partisans of Cossim Ali wanted another
revolution. The partisans of the other side wished
to have something more done in the present. They
now began to think that to depose Cossim instantly,
and to sell him to another, was too much at one time,
- especially as Cossim Ali was a man of vigor and
resolution, carrying oin a fierce war against them.
But what do you think they did? They began to see,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -SECOND DAY. 433
from the example of Cossim Ali, that the lieutenancy,
the ministry of the king, was a good thing to be sold,
and the sale of that might turn out as good a thing
as the sale of the prince.
For this office there were two rival candidates, persons of great consideration in Bengal: one, a principal Mahomedan, called Mahomed Reza Khan, a man
of high authority, great piety in his own religion,
great learning in the law, of the very first class of
Mahomedan nobility; but at the same time, on all
these accounts, he was abhorred and dreaded by the
Nabob, who necessarily feared that a man of Mahomed Reza Khan's description would be considered
as better entitled and fitter for his seat, as Nabob
of the provinces. To balance him, there was another
man, known by the name of the Great Rajah Nundcomar. This man was accounted the highest of his
caste, and held the same rank among the Gentoos
that Mahomed Reza Khan obtained among the Mahomedans. The prince on the throne had no jealousy of Nundcomar, because he knew, that, as a Gentoo, he could not aspire to the office of Subahdar. For that reason he was firmly attached to him; he
might depend completely on his services; he was his
against Mahomed Reza Khan, and against the whole
world. There was, however, a flaw in the Nabob's
title, which it was necessary should be hid. And perhaps it lay against Mahomed Reza Khan as well as
him. But it was a source of apprehension to the
Nabob, and contributed to make him wish to keep
all Mahomedan influence at a distance. For he was
a Syed, that is to say, a descendant of Mahomet, and
as such, though of the only acknowledged nobility
among Mussulmen, would be by that circumstance
VOL. IX. 28
? ? ? ? 434 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
excluded, by the known laws of the Mogul empire,
from being Subahdar in any of the Mogul provinces,
in case the revival of the constitution of that empire
should ever again take place.
An auction was now opened before the English
Council at Calcutta. Mahomed Reza Khhan bid largely; Nundcomar bid. largely. The circumstances of
these two rivals at the Nabob court were equally favorable to the pretensions of each. But the preponderating merits of Mahomed Reza Khan, arising from the subjection in which he was likely to keep the Nabob, and make him fitter for the purpose of continued
exactions, induced the Council to take his money,
which amounted to about 220,0001. Be the sum paid
what it may, it was certainly a large one; in consequence of which the Council attempted to invest Mahomed Reza Khan with the office of Naib Subah, or Deputy Viceroy. As to Nundcomar, they fell upon
him with a vengeful fury. He fought his battle as
well as he could; he opposed bribe to bribe, eagle to
eagle; but at length he was driven to the wall. Some
received his money, but did him no service in return;
others, more conscientious, refused to receive it; and
in this battle of bribes he was vanquished. A deputation was sent from Calcutta to the miserable Nabob,
to tear Nunldcomar, his only support, from his side,
and to put the object of all his terrors, Mallomed Reza
Khan, in his place.
Thus began a new division that split the Presidency into violent factions; but the faction which
adhered to Nundcomar was. undoubtedly the weakest.
That most miserable of men, Mir Jaffier Ali Khan,
clinging, as to the last pillar, to Nundcomar, trembling at Mahomed Reza Khalin, died in the struggle,
?
the most important of all, was yet wanting. A pause
ensued: Major Calliaud's seal was not at hand;
but Mr. Lushington was sent near half a mile to
bring it. It was brought at length; and the instrument of blood and treachery was completely executed. Three seals were set to it.
This business of the three seals, by some means not
quite fully explained, but (as suspected by the parties)
by means of the information of Mr. Holwell, who soon
after came home, was conveyed to the ears of the
Court of Directors. The Court of Directors wrote
out, under date of the 7th of October, 1761, within a
little more than a year after this extraordinary transaction, to this effect: -- that, in conjunction with the
Nabob, Major Calliaud had signed a paper offering a
reward of a lac of rupees, or some such sum, to several black persons, for the assassination of the Shahzada, or Prince heir-apparent, - which paper was offered to the then Chief of Patna to sign, but which he refused on account of the infamy of the'measure.
As it appeared in the same light to them, the Directors, they ordered a strict inquiry into it. The India
Company, who here did their duty with apparent manliness and vigor, were resolved, however, to do it with
gentleness, and to proceed in a manner that could not
produce any serious mischief to the parties charged;
for they directed the commission of inquiry to the
very clan and set of people who, from a participation
in their common offences, stood in awe of one another, - in effect, to the parties in the transaction.
Without a prosecutor, without an impartial director
of the inquiry, they left it substantially to those persons to try one another for their common acts. .
Here I come upon the principle which I wish most
? ? ? ? 414 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
strongly to mark to your Lordships: I mean collusive trials and collusive acquittals. When this matter came to be examined, according to the orders of the
Court, which was on the 4th lof October, 1762, the
Council consisted of Peter Maguire, Warren Hastings,
and Hugh Watts. Mr. Hastings had by this time accomplished the business of Resident with the Nabob, and had taken the seat to which his seniority entitled
hiln in Council. Here a difficulty arose in limine.
Mr. Hastings was represented to have acted as interpreter in this business; he was therefore himself an object of the inquisition; he was doubtful as evidence;
lie was disqualified as a judge. It likewise appeared
that there might be some objection to others whose
evidence was wanting, but who were themselves concerned in the guilt. ' Mr. Lushington's evidence would be useful, but there were two circumstances
rather unlucky. First, he had put the seal to the instrument of murder; and, secondly, and what was most material, he had made an affidavit at Patna,
whilst the affair was green and recent, that he had
done so; and in the same affidavit had deposed that
Warren Hastings was interpreter in that transaction.
Here were difficulties both on him and Mr. Hastings.
The question was, how to get Mr. Hastings, the interpreter, out of his interpretation, and to put him upon the seat of judgment. It was effected, however, and
the manner in which it was effected was something
curious. Mr. Lushington, who by this time was got
completely over, himself tells you that in conferences
with Major Calliaud, and by arguments and reasons
by him delivered, he was persuaded to unsay his
swearing, and to declare that he believed that the
affidavit which he made at Patna, and while the
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 415
transaction was recent or nearly recent, must be a
mistake: that he believed (what is amazing indeed for
any belief) that not Mr. Hastings, but he himself,
interpreted. Mr. Lushington completely loses his own
memory, and he accepts an offered, a given memory,
a memory supplied to him by a party in the transaction. By this operation all difficulties are removed: Mr. Hastings is at once put into the capacity of a
judge. He is declared by Mr. Lushington not to have
been an interpreter in the transaction. After this,
Mr. Hastings is himself examined. Your Lordships
will look at the transaction at your leisure, and I
think you will consider it as a pattern for inquiries
of this kind. Mr. Hastings is examined: he does not
recollect. His memory also fails on a business in
which it is not easy to suppose a man could be doubtful, - whether he was present or not: he thinks he was not there, -for that, if he had been there, and
acted as interpreter, he could not have forgot it.
I think it is pretty nearly as I state it: if I have
fallen into any error or inaccuracy, it is easily rectified; for here is the state of the transaction given by the parties themselves. On this inaccurate memory
of Mr. Hastings, not venturing, however, to say positively that he was not the interpreter, or that he was not present, he is discharged from being an accomplice, - he is removed from the bar, and leaps upon the'seat of justice. The court thus. completed, Major
Calliaud comes manfully forward to make his defence.
Mr. Lushington is taken off his back in the manner
we have seen, and no one person remains but Captain Knox. Now, if Captain Knox was there and assenting, he is an accomplice too. Captain Knox
asserts, that, at the consultation about the murder, he
? ? ? ? 416 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
said it was a pity to cut off so fine a young fellow
in such a manner,- meaning that fine young fellow
the Prince, the descendant of Tamerlane, the present
reigning Mogul, from whom the Company derive their
present charter. The purpose to be served by this
declaratio. n, if it had ally purpose, was, that Captainl
Knox did not assent to the murder, and that therefore his evidence might be valid.
The defence set up by Major Calliaud was to this
effect. He was apprehensive, he said, that the Nabob
was alarmed at the violent designs that were formed
against him by Mr. Holwell, and that therefore, to
quiet his mind, (to quiet it by a proposition compounded of murder and treason, - an odd kind of mind he had that was to be quieted by such means! )
- but to quiet his mind, and to show that the English were willing to go all lengths with him, to sell body and soul to him, he did put his seal to this
extraordinary agreement, he put his seal to this wonderful paper. He likewise stated, that he was of opinion at the time that nothing at all sinister could
happen from it, that no such murder was likely to
take place, whatever might be the intention of the
parties. In fact, he had very luckily said in a letter
of his, written a day after the setting the seal, "I
think nothing will come of this matter, but it is
no harm to try. " This experimental treache. ry, and
these essays of conditional murder, appeared to him
good enough to make a trial of; but at the same time
he was afraid nothing would come of it. In general,
the whole gest of his defence comes to one point, in
which he persists, - that, whatever the act might
be, his mind is clear: " My hands are guilty, but my
heart is free. " He conceived that it would be very
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 417
Improper, undoubtedly, to do such an act, if he suspected anything could happen from it: he, however,
let the thing out of his own hands; he put it into the
haIrds of others; he put the commission into the hands
of a murderer. The fact was not denied; it was fully
before these severe judges. The extenuation was the
purity of his heart, and the bad situation of the Company's affairs, - the perpetual plea, which your Lordships will hear of forever, and which if it will justify evil actions, they will take good: care that the most
nefarious of their deeds shall never want a sufficient
justification. But then he calls upon his life and, his
character to oppose to his seal; and though he has
declared that. Mr. Holwell had intended ill to the Nabob, and that he approved of those measures, and only
postponed them, yet he thought it necessary, he says,
to quiet the fears of the Nabob; and from this motive
he did an act abhorrent to his nature, and which, he
says, he expressed his abhorrence of the morning after he signed it: not that he did so; but if he had, I
believe it would only have made the thing so many
degrees worse. Your Lordships will observe, that, in
this conference, as stated by himself, these reasons
and apologies for it did not appear, nor did they appear in the letter, nor anywhere else, till next year,
when he came upon his. trial. Then it was immediately recollected that Mr. Holwell's designs were so
wicked they certainly must be known to the Nabob,
though he never mentioned them in the conference
of the morning or the evening of the 15th; yet such
was now the weight and prevalence of them upon the
Major's mind, that he calls upon Mr. Hastings to,
know whether the Nabob was not informed of these
designs of Mr. Holwell against him. Mr. Hastings's,
VOL. IX. 27
? ? ? ? 418 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
memory was not quite correct upon the occasion.
He does not recollect anything of the matter. He
certainly seems not to thlink that he ever mentioned
it to the Nabob, or the Nabob to him; but he does
recollect, he thinks, speaking something to some of
the Nabob's attendants upon it, and further this deponent sayeth not. On this state of things, namely,
the purity of intention, the necessities of the Company,
tle propriety of keeping the Nabob in perfect goodhumor and removing suspicions from his mind, which
suspicions lie had never expressed, they came to the
resolution I shall have the honor to read to you:
"That the representation, giveni in the said defence,
of the state of the affairs of the country at that time"
(that is, about the month of April, 1760) "is true
and just" (that is, the bad state of the country,
which we shall consider hereafter); "that, in such,circumstances, the Nabob's urgent account of his own,distresses, the Colollel's desire of making him easy," (for here is a recapitulation of the whole defence,)
" as the first thing necessary for the good of the service, and the suddenness of the thing proposed, might
deprive him for a moment of his recollection, and
-surprise him into a measure which, as to the measure itself, he could not approve. That such only
were the motives which did or could influence Colonel'Calliaud to assent to the proposal is fully evinced by
the deposition of Captain Knox and Mr. Lushington,
that his [Calliaud's] coniscience, at the time. never reproached him with a bad design. "
Your Lordships have heard of the testimony of a
person to his own conscience; but the testimony of another man to any ole's conscience - this is the first
time, I believe, it ever a p,peared in a judicial proceed
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 419
ing. It is natural to say, " My conscience acquits
me of it"; but they declare, that "his conscience
never reproached him with a bad design, -and therefore, upon the whole, they are satisfied that his intention was good, though he erred in the measure. " I beg leave to state one thing that escaped me:
that the Nabob, who was one of the parties to the
design, was, at the time of the inquiry, a sort of
prisoner or an exile at Calcutta; that his moonshee
was there, or might have been had; and that his spy
was likewise there; and that they, though parties to
this transaction, were never called to account for it
in any sense or in any degree, or to show how far it
was necessary to quiet the Nabob's mind.
The accomplices, by acquitting him upon their testinmony to his conscience, did their business nobly.
But the good Court of Directors, who were so easily
satisfied, so ready to condemn at the first proposition
and so ready afterwards to acquit, put the last finishing hand of a master to it. For the accomplices
acquit him of evil intentions and excuse his act.
The Court of Directors, disapproving indeed the
measure, but receiving the testimony of his conscience in justification of his conduct, and taking
up the whole ground, honorably acquit him, and
commend this action as an instance of heroic zeal
in their service.
The great end and purpose for which 1 produce
this to your Lordships is to show you the necessity
there is for other inquiries, other trials, other acquittals,of parties, than those made by a collusive clan
abroad, or by the Directors at home, who had required
the parties to inquire of themselves, and to take the
testimony of the judges at second-hand, as to the
? ? ? ? '420 IMPEACHMENT OF. WARREN HASTINGS.
conscience of the ~party accused, respecting acts which
neither they nor any man living can look upon but
with horror.
I have troubled your Lordships with the story of
the Three Seals, as a specimen of the then state of
the service, and the politics of the servants, civil and
military, in the horrid abuses which then- prevailed,
and which render at length the most rigorous reformation necessary. I close this episode to resume
the proceedings at the second revolution.
This affair of the three seals was, we have seen,
to quiet the fears of the Nabob. His fears it was
indeed necessary to quiet; for your Lordships will
see that the man whose fears were to be set asleep
by Major Calliaud's offering him, in a scheme for
murdering his sovereign, an odd sort of opiate,
made up of blood and treason, was now in a fair
way of being murdered himself by the machinations of him whose seal was set to his murderous
security of peace, and by those his accomplices, Holwell and Hastings: at least they resolved to put him
in a situation:in which his murder was in a manner
inevitable, as you will see in the sequel of the transaction. Now the plan proceeds. The parties continued in the camp; but there was another remora. To remove a nabob and to create a revolution is not
easy: houses are strong who have sons grown up with
vigor and fitness for the command of armies. They
are not easily overturned by removing the principal,
unless the secondary is got rid of: and if this remora
could be removed, everything was going on in a happy
way in the business. This plan, which now (that is,
about the month of July) began to get into great
ripeness and forwardness, Mr. Holwell urged forward,
Mr. Vansittart being hourly expected.
? ? ? ? SPEECH:IN OPENING. : -- SECOND DAY-. 421
I do not know whether I am going to state a thing,
though it is upon the records, which will not have too
theatrical an appearance for the grave state in which
we are. But here it is, -- the difficulty, the knot, and
the solution, as recorded by the parties themselves.
It was the object of this bold, desperate, designing
man, Cossim Ali KhAn, who aimed at everything,
and who scrupled not to do anything in attaining
what he aimed at,. to be appointed the lieutenant of
the Nabob Jaffier Ali, and thus to get possession of
his office during his lifetime under that name, with a
design of murdering him: for that office, according to
many usages of that country, totally supersedes the
authority of the first magistrate, renders him a cipher in his hand, gives the administration of his affairs and command of his troops to the lieutenant. It was
a part of his plan, that he was, after his appointment
to the lieutenancy, to be named to the succession of
the Nabob, who had several other children; but the
eldest son stood in the way.
But as things hastened to a crisis, this difficulty was
removed in the most extraordinary and providential
unheard-of manner, by the most extraordinary event
that, I believe, is recorded in history. Just in the
nick of time, in the moment of projection, on the 3d
of July, this Prince Meeran, in the flower of his age,
bold, active, enterprising, lying asleep in his tent, is
suddenly, without any one's knowing it, without any
alarm or menace in the heavens that ever was heard
of or mentioned, without any one whatever being
hurt or even alarmed in the camp, killed with a flash
of lightning. My Lords, thus was the Gordian knot
cut. This prince dies of a flash of lightning, and
Mr. Lushington (of whom you have heard) comes in
? ? ? ? 422 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the morning with his hair standing erect, comes
frightened into the presence of Major Calliaud, and,
with the utmost alarm, tells him of a circumstance
that was afterwards to give them so much pleasure.
The alarm was immediately communicated to the Major, who was seized with a fright; and fearing lest
the army should mutiny upon the death of their chief,
it was contrived, in a manner that I believe was most
difficult to contrive, that what might have excited a
general mutiny was concealed by the ability, the good
conduct, and dexterity of Major Calliaud for seven
days together, till he led the army out of the place
of danger. Thus a judgment fell upon one of the
(innocent) murderers in the scene of the Three Seals.
This man, who was probably guilty in his conscience
as well as in act, thus fell by that most lucky, providential, and most useful flash of lightning.
There were at that time, it seems, in Calcutta, a
wicked, skeptical set of people, who somehow or
other believed that human agency was concerned in
this elective flash, which came so very opportunely,
and which was a favor so thankfully acknowledged.
These wicked, ill-natured skeptics disseminated reports (which I am sure I do not mean to charge or
prove, leaving the effect of them to you) very dishonorable, I believe, to Cossim Ali Khan in the business, and to some Englishmen who were concerned. The difficulty of getting rid of Meeran being thus
removed, Mr. Vansittart comes upon the scene. I
verily believe he was a man of good intentions, and
rather debauched by that amazing flood of iniquity
which prevailed at that time, or hurried and carried
away with it. In a few days he sent for Major Calliaud. All his objections vanish inl an instant: like
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 423
that flash of lightnillg, everything is instant. The
Major agrees to perform his part. They send for
Cossim Ali AKhan and Mr. Hastings; they open a
treaty and conclude it with him, leaving the management of it to two persons, Mr. Holwell and another person, whoml we have heard of, anl Armenian, called
Coja Petruse, who afterwards played his part in another illustrious scene. By this Petruse and Mr. Ilolwell the matter is settled. The moment Mr.
Holwell is raised to be a Secretary of State, the revolution is accomplished. By it Cossim Ali Kh&n is
to have the lieutenancy at present, and the succession. Everything is put into his hands, and he is to makeo for it large concessions, which you will hear of
afterwards, to the Company. Cossim Ali IKh'hn proposed to Mr. Holwell, what would have been no bad supplement to the flash of lightning, the murder of
the Nabob; hut Mr. IHolwell was a man of too much
honor and conscience to suffer that. He instantly
flew out at it, and declared the whole business should
stop, unless the affair of the murder was given up.
Accordingly things were so settled. But if he gave
the Nabob over to an intended murderer, and delivered his person, treasure, and everything into his hands, Cossim Ali Kha'n might have had no great
reason to complain of being left to the execution of
his own projects in his own way. The treaty was
made, and amounted to this, -- that the Company
was to receive three great provinces: for here, as we
proceed, you will have an opportunity of observing,
with the progress of these plots, one thing which has
constantly and uniformly pervaded the whole of these
projects.
and which the persons concerned in them
have avowed as a principle of their actions, --that
? ? ? ? 424 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
they were first to take care of the Company's interest,
then of their own; that is, first to secure to the Company an enormous bribe; and under the shadow of
that bribe to take all the little emoluments they could
to themselves. Three great, rich, southern provinces,
maritime, or nearly mlaritime, Burdwan, Midnapoor,
and Chittagong, were to be dissevered from the Subah and to be ceded to the Company. There were
other minor stipulations, which it is not necessary at
present to trouble you with, signed, sealed, and executed at Calcutta between these parties with the greatest possible secrecy. The lieutenancy and the succession were secured to Cossim Ali, and he was likewise to give somewhere about the sum of 200,0001. to the gentlemen who were concerned, as a reward for
serving him so effectually, and for serving their country so well. Accordingly, these stipulations, actual
or understood, (for they were eventually carried into
effect,) being settled, a commission of delegation, consisting chiefly of Mr. Vanlsittart and Major Calliaud,
was sent up to Moorshedabad: the new Governor
taking this opportunity of paying the usual visit of
respect to the Nabob, and in a manner which a new
Governor coming into place would do, with the detail of which it is not necessary to trouble you. Mr.
Hastings was at this time at the durbar; and having
everything prepared, and the ground smoothed, they
first endeavored to persuade the Nabob to deliver
over the power negotiated for into the hands of their
friend Cossim Ali Khall. But when the old man,
frightened out of his wits, asked, 1' What is it ho has
bid for me? " and added, " I will give half as much
again to save myself; pray let me know what my
price is,"- -he entreated in vain. They were true,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 425
firm, and faithful to their word and their engagement,
When he saw they were resolved that he should be
delivered into the hands of Cossirn Ali Khan, he at
once surrenders the whole to him. They instantly
grasp it. He throws himself into a boat, and will
not remain at home an hour, but hurries down to
Calcutta to leave his blood at our door, if we should
have a mind to take it. But the life of the Nabob
was too great a stake (partly as a security for the
good behavior of Cossim Ali Kha'n, and still more
for the future use that might be made of him) to
be thrown away, or left in the hands of a man who
would certainly murder him, and who was very angry at being refused the murder of his father-inlaw. The price of this second revolution was, according to their shares in it, (I believe I have it here,) somewhere about 200,0001. This little effusion to private interest settled the matter, and here
ended the second revolution in the country: effected,
indeed, without bloodshed, but with infinite treachery,
with infinite mischief, consequent to the dismemberment of the country, and which had nearly become
fatal to our concerns tliere, like everything else in
which Mr. Hastings had any share.
This prince, Cossim Ali Khan, the friend of Mr.
Hastings, knew that those who could give could take
away dominion. He had scarcely got upon the
throne, procured for him by our public spirit and his
own iniquities, than he began directly and instantly
to fortify himself, and to bend all his politics against
those who were or could be the donors of such fatal
gifts. : He began with the natives who were in their
interest, and cruelly put to death, under the eye of
Mr. Hastings and his clan, all those who, by their
? ? ? ? 426 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
moneyed wealth or landed consideration, could give
any effect to their dispositions in favor of those ambitious strangers. He removed from Moorshedabad
higher up into the country, to Monghir, in order to
be more out of our view. He kept his word pretty
well, but not altogether faithfully, with the gentlemen; and though he had no money, for his treasury
was empty, he gave obligations which are known by
the name of jeeps- (the Indian vocabulary will by
degrees become familiar to your Lordships, as we develop the modes and customs of the country). As
soon as he had done this, he began to rack and tear
the provinces that were left to him, to get as much
from them as should compensate him for the revenues of those great provinces he had lost; and accordingly he began a scene of extortion, horrible, nefarious, without precedent or example, upon almost all the landed interest of that country. I mention this,
because he is one of those persons whose governments
Mr. Hastings, in a paper called his Defence, delivered
in to the House of Commons, has produced as precedents and examples which he has thought fit to follow, and which he thought would justify him in the
conduct he has pursued. This Cossine Ali Khan,
after he had acted the tyrant on the landed interest, fell upon the moneyed interest. In that country
there was a person called Juggut Seit. There were
several of the family, who were bankers to such a
magnitude as was never heard of in the world. Receivers of the public revenue, their correspondence
extended all over Asia; and there are those who are
of opinion that' the house of Juggut Seit, including
all its branches, was not worth less than six or seven
millions sterling. This house became the prey of
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -SECOND DAY. 427
Cossim Ali Khan; but Mr. Holwell had predicted
that it should be delivered over to Satan to be bufeted
(his own pious expression). He predicted the misfortunes that should befall them; and we chose a Satan to buffet them, and who did so buffet them, by
the murder of the principal'persons of the house, and
by robbing them of great sums of their wealth, that I
believe such a scene of nefarious tyranny, destroying
and cutting up the root of public credit in that country, was scarce ever known. In the mean time Cossin was extending his tyranny over all who were obnoxious to him; and the persons he first sought were those traitors who had been friends to the English.
Several of the principal of these he murdered. There
was in the province of Bahar a man named Ramarain; he had got the most positive assurances of English faith; but Mr. Macguire, a member of the Council, on the receipt of five thousand gold mohurs, or something more than 80001. sterling, delivered him
up to be first imprisoned, then tortured, then robbed
in consequence of the torture, and finally murdered,
by Cossim Ali Khan. In this way Cossiin Ali RKhan
acted, while our government looked on. I hardly
choose to mention to. you the fate of a certain native in consequence of a dispute with Mr. Mott, a
friend of Mr. Hastings, which is in the Company's
records, --records which are almost buried by their
own magnitude from the knowledge of this country. In a contest with this native for his house and
property, some scuffle having happened between the
parties, the one attempting to seize and the other
to defend, the latter made a complaint to the Nabob,
who was in an entire subjection at that time to the
English, and who ordered this unfortunate man, on
? ? ? ? 428 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
account' of this' very scuffle, arising from defending
his property, to be blown off from the mouth of a
cannon. In short, I am not able to tell youi Lordships of all the nefarious transactions of this man,
whom the intrigues of Mr. Holwell and Mr. Hastings
had set upon the throne of Bengal. But there is a
circumstance in this business that comes across here,
and will tend to show another grievance that vexed
that country, which vexed it long, and is one of the
causes of its chief disasters, and which, I fear, is not
so perfectly extirpated but that some part of its roots
may remain in the ground at this moment.
Commerce, which enriches every other country in
the world, was bringing Bengal to total ruin. The
Company,- in former times, when it had no sovereignty or power in -the country, had large privileges under their: dustuck, or permit: their goods passed,
without'paying duties, through the country. The
servants- of the Company made use of this dustuck
for their- own private trade, which, while it was
used with moderation, the native government winked
at' in some degree; but when it got wholly into private. hands, it was more like robbery than trade.
These traders appeared everywhere; they sold at
their own prices, and forced the people to sell to
them at their own prices. also. It appeared more
like an- army going to pillage the people, under
pretence' of commerce, than anything else. In vain
the people claimed the protection of their own country courts. This English army of traders in their march ravaged worse than a Tartarian conqueror.
The trade they carried on, and which more resembled robbery than commerce, anticipated the resources of the tyrallt,'anld threatened to leave him no mate
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -SECOND DAY. 429
rials for imposition or confiscation. Thus this miserable country was torn to pieces by the horrible
rapaciousness of a double tyranny. This appeared
to be so strong a case, that a deputation was sent
to him at his new capital, Monghir, to form a treaty
for the purpose of giving some relief against this cruel, cursed, and oppressive trade, which was worse
even than the tyranny of the sovereign. This trade
Mr. Vansittart, the President about this time, that
is, in 1763, who succeeded to Mr. Holwell, and was
in close union of interests with the tyrant Cossim
Ali Khan, by a treaty known by the name of the
treaty of Monghir, agreed very much to suppress
and to confine within something like reasonable
bounds. There never was a doubt on the face of
that treaty, that it was a just, proper, fair transac --
tion. But as nobody iii Bengal did then believe
that rapine was ever forborne but in favor of bribery, the persons who lost every advantage by the
treaty of Monghir, when they thought they saw corrupt negotiation carrying away the prizes of unlawful commerce, and were likely to see their trade crippled by Cossim Ali Khan, fell into a most violent fury at this treaty; and as the treaty was made
without the concurrence of the rest of the Council,
the Company's servants grew divided: one part were
the advocates of the treaty, the other of the trade.
The latter were universally of opinion that the treaty was bought for a great sum of money. - The evidence we have on -our records of the sums of money that are stated to have been paid on this occasion
has never been investigated to the bottom; but we
have it on record, that a great sum (70,0001. ) was
paid to persons concerned in that negotiation. The
? ? ? ? 430 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
rest were exceedingly wroth to see themselves not
profiting by the negotiation, and losing the trade, or
likely to be excluded from it; and they were the
more so, because, as we have it upon our journals,
during all that time the trade of the negotiators was
not proscribed, but a purwannah was issued by Cossim Ali Khan, that the trade of his friends Mr.
Vansittart and Mr. Hastings should not be subject
to the general regulations. This filled the whole
settlement with ill blood; but inl the regulation itself
(I put the motive and the secret history out of the
case) undoubtedly Mr. Hastings and Mr. Vansittart
were on the right side. They had shown to a demonstration the mischief of this trade. However,
as the other party were strong, and did not readily
let go their hold of this great advantage, first, dissensions, murmurs, various kinds of complaints, and
ill blood arose. Cossim Ali was driven to the wall;
and having at the same time made what he thought
good preparations, a war broke out at last. And
how did it break out? This Cossim Ali Khan
signalized his first acts of hostility by an atrocity
committed against the faith of treaties, against the
rules of war, against every principle of honor. This
intended murderer of his father-in-law, whom MZr.
Hastings had assisted to raise to the throne of
Bengal, well knowing his character and his disposition, and well knowing what such a man was capable of doing, --this man massacred the English wherever he met them. There were two hundred,
or thereabouts, of the Company's servants, or their dependants, slaughtered at Patna with every circumstance of the most abominable cruelty. Their limbs were cut to pieces. The tyrant whom Mr. Hastings
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. - SECOND DAY. 431
set up cut and hacked the limbs of British subjects
in the most cruel and perfidious manner, threw them
into wells, and polluted the waters of the country
with British blood. Immediately war is declared.
against him in form. That war sets the whole
country in a blaze; and then other parties begin to
appear upon' the scene, whose transactions you will
find yourselves deeply concerned in hereafter.
As soon as war was declared against Cossim, it
was necessary to resolve to put up another Nabob,
and to have another revolution: and where do they
resort, but to the man whom, for his alleged tyranny,
for his incapacity, for the numberless iniquities he
was said to have committed, and for his total unfitness and disinclination to all the duties of government, they had dethroned? This very man they
take up again, to place on the throne from which
they had about two years before' removed him, and
for the effecting of which they had committed so many iniquities. Even this revolution was not made
without being paid for. According to the usual order of procession, in which the youngest walk first,
first comes the Company; and the Company had secured to it in perpetuity those provinces which Cossim Ali Khan had ceded, as it was thought, rather in the way of mortgage than anything else. Then, under the name of compensation for sufferings to the
people concerned in the trade, and in the name of
donation to an army and a. navy which had little to
do in this affair, they tax him --what sum do you
think? They tax that empty and undone treasury of
that miserable and undone country 500,0001. for a
private emolument to themselves, -- for the compensation for this iniquitous trade, - for the compensa
? ? ? ? 432 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
tion for abuses of which he was neither the author nor
the abettor, they tax this miserable prince 500,Q001.
That sum was given to individuals. Now comes the
Company at home, which, on hearing this news, was
all inflamed. The Directors were on fire. They were
shocked at it, and particularly at this donation to
the army and navy. They resolved they would give
it no countenance and support. ' In the mean time
the gentlemen did not trouble their heads uponl that
subject, but meant to exact and get their 500,0001.
as they could.
Here was a third revolution, bought at this amazing sum, and this poor, miserable prince first. dragged
from Moorshedabad to Calcutta, then dragged back
from. Calcutta to AMoorshedabad, the sport of fortune
and the plaything of avarice. This poor man is again
set up, but is left with no authority: his troops limited, - his person, everything about him, in a manner subjugated, - a British Resident the master of his court: he is set up as a pageant on this throne,
with no other authority but what would be sufficient
to give a countenance to presents, gifts, and donations.
That authority was always left, when all the rest was
taken away. One would have thought that this revolution might have satisfied these gentlemen, and that
the money gained by it would have been sufficient.
No. The partisans of Cossim Ali wanted another
revolution. The partisans of the other side wished
to have something more done in the present. They
now began to think that to depose Cossim instantly,
and to sell him to another, was too much at one time,
- especially as Cossim Ali was a man of vigor and
resolution, carrying oin a fierce war against them.
But what do you think they did? They began to see,
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN OPENING. -SECOND DAY. 433
from the example of Cossim Ali, that the lieutenancy,
the ministry of the king, was a good thing to be sold,
and the sale of that might turn out as good a thing
as the sale of the prince.
For this office there were two rival candidates, persons of great consideration in Bengal: one, a principal Mahomedan, called Mahomed Reza Khan, a man
of high authority, great piety in his own religion,
great learning in the law, of the very first class of
Mahomedan nobility; but at the same time, on all
these accounts, he was abhorred and dreaded by the
Nabob, who necessarily feared that a man of Mahomed Reza Khan's description would be considered
as better entitled and fitter for his seat, as Nabob
of the provinces. To balance him, there was another
man, known by the name of the Great Rajah Nundcomar. This man was accounted the highest of his
caste, and held the same rank among the Gentoos
that Mahomed Reza Khan obtained among the Mahomedans. The prince on the throne had no jealousy of Nundcomar, because he knew, that, as a Gentoo, he could not aspire to the office of Subahdar. For that reason he was firmly attached to him; he
might depend completely on his services; he was his
against Mahomed Reza Khan, and against the whole
world. There was, however, a flaw in the Nabob's
title, which it was necessary should be hid. And perhaps it lay against Mahomed Reza Khan as well as
him. But it was a source of apprehension to the
Nabob, and contributed to make him wish to keep
all Mahomedan influence at a distance. For he was
a Syed, that is to say, a descendant of Mahomet, and
as such, though of the only acknowledged nobility
among Mussulmen, would be by that circumstance
VOL. IX. 28
? ? ? ? 434 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
excluded, by the known laws of the Mogul empire,
from being Subahdar in any of the Mogul provinces,
in case the revival of the constitution of that empire
should ever again take place.
An auction was now opened before the English
Council at Calcutta. Mahomed Reza Khhan bid largely; Nundcomar bid. largely. The circumstances of
these two rivals at the Nabob court were equally favorable to the pretensions of each. But the preponderating merits of Mahomed Reza Khan, arising from the subjection in which he was likely to keep the Nabob, and make him fitter for the purpose of continued
exactions, induced the Council to take his money,
which amounted to about 220,0001. Be the sum paid
what it may, it was certainly a large one; in consequence of which the Council attempted to invest Mahomed Reza Khan with the office of Naib Subah, or Deputy Viceroy. As to Nundcomar, they fell upon
him with a vengeful fury. He fought his battle as
well as he could; he opposed bribe to bribe, eagle to
eagle; but at length he was driven to the wall. Some
received his money, but did him no service in return;
others, more conscientious, refused to receive it; and
in this battle of bribes he was vanquished. A deputation was sent from Calcutta to the miserable Nabob,
to tear Nunldcomar, his only support, from his side,
and to put the object of all his terrors, Mallomed Reza
Khan, in his place.
Thus began a new division that split the Presidency into violent factions; but the faction which
adhered to Nundcomar was. undoubtedly the weakest.
That most miserable of men, Mir Jaffier Ali Khan,
clinging, as to the last pillar, to Nundcomar, trembling at Mahomed Reza Khalin, died in the struggle,
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