I stemmed the torrent:
fortitude
is my character.
Edmund Burke
-NINTH DAY.
371
through the whole would have been nearly inlpossible,) he takes all the rest that we have left behind
and have not brought here as charges, and converts
them, by a strange metamorphosis, into merits.
My Lords, we must insist, on the part of the House
of Commons, we must conjure your Lordships, for
the honor of a coordinate branch of the legislature,
that, whenever you are called upon to admit what we
have condemned as crimes to be merits, you will at
least give us an opportunity of being heard upon the
matter, - that you will not suffer Mr. Hastings, when
attempting to defend himself against our charges, in
an indirect and oblique manner to condemn or censure the House of Commons itself, as having misrepresented to be crimes the acts of a meritorious
servant of the public. Mr. Hastings has pleaded a
variety of merits, and every one of these merits, without the exception of one of them, have been either directly censured by the House of Commons, and censured as a ground for legislative provision, or they remain upon the records of the House of Commons,
with the vouchers for them, and proofs; and though
we have not actually come to the question upon every
one of them, we had come, before the year 1782, to
forty-five direct resolutions upon his conduct. These
resolutions were moved by a person to whom this
country is under many obligations, and whom we
must always mention with honor, whenever we are
speaking of high situations in this country, and of
great talents to support them, and of long public
services in the House of Commons: I mean Mr.
Dundas, then Lord Advocate of Scotland, and now
one of the principal Secretaries of State, and at the
head, and worthily and deservedly at the head, of
? ? ? ? 372 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the East Indian department. This distinguished
statesman moved forty-five resolutions, the major part
of them directly condemning these very acts which
Mr. Hastings has pleaded as his merits, as being delinquencies and crimes. All that the House of Commons implore of your Lordships is, that you will not take these things, which we call crimes, to be merits,
without hearing the House of Commons upon the
subject-matter of them. I am sure you are too noble
and too generous, as well as too just and equitable,
to act in such a manner.
The first thing that Mr. Hastings brings forward
in his defence is, that, whereas the Company were
obliged to pay a certain tribute to the Mogul, in consideration of a grant by which the Moguls gave to
us the legal title under which we hold the provinces
of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, he did stop the payment of that tribute, or acknowledgment, small as it
was, -that, though bound by a treaty recognized by
the Company and recognized by the nation, though
bound by the very sunnud by which he held the very
office he was exercising, yet he had broken the treaty,
and refused to pay the stipulated acknowledgment.
Where are we, my Lords? Is this merit? Good
God Almighty! the greatest blockhead, the most igno
rant, miserable wretch, a person without either virtue
or talents, has nothing to do but to order a clerk to
strike a pen through such an account, and then to
make a merit of it to you. "Oh! " says he, " I have
by a mere breach of your faith, by a single dash of
my pen, saved you all this money which you were
bound to pay. I have exonerated you from the payment of it. I have gained you 250,0001. a year forever. Will you not reward a person who did you such
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- NINTH DAY. 373
a great and important service, by conniving a little
at his delinquencies? "
But the House of Commons will not allow that
this was a great and important service; on the contrary, they have declared the act itself to be censurable. There is our resolution,- Resolution the 7th: -- " That the conduct of the Company and their
servants in India to the King," (meaning the Mogul
king) "and Nudjif Khan, with respect to the tribute
payable to the one, and the stipend to the other, and
with respect to the transfer of the provinces of Corah
and Allahabad to the Vizier, was contrary to policy
and good faith; and that such wise and practicable
measures should be adopted in future as may tend
to redeem the national honor, and recover the confidence and attachment of the princes of India. "
This act of injustice, against which we have fulminated the thunder of our resolutions as a heavy
crime, as a crime that dishonored the nation, and
which measures ought to be taken to redress, this
man has the insolence to bring before your Lordships
as a set-off against the crimes we charge him with.
This outrageous defiance of the House of Commons,
this outrageous defiance of all the laws of his country, I hope your Lordships will not countenance.
You will not let it pass for nothing: on the contrary,
you will consider it as aggravating heavily his crimes.
And, above all, you will not suffer him to set off this,
which we have declared to be injurious to our national honor and credit, and which he himself does not
deny to be a breach of the public faith, against other
breaches of the public faith with which we charge
him, -or to justify one class of public crimes by
proving that he has committed others.
? ? ? ? 374 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Your Lordships see that he justifies this crime upon the plea of its being profitable to the Company;
but lie shall not march off even on this ground with
flying colors. My Lords, pray observe in what manner he calculates these profits. Your Lordships will
find that he makes up the account of them much
in the same manner as he made up the account of
Nobkissin's money. There is, indeed, no account
which he has ever brought forth that does not carry upon it not only ill faith and national dishonor,
but direct proofs of corruption. When Mr. Hastings
values himself upon this shocking and outrageous
breach of faith, which required nothing but a base
and illiberal mind, without either talents, courage, or
skill, except that courage which defies all consequences, which defies shame, which defies the judgment and opinion of his country and of mankind, no othei
talents than may be displayed by the dash of a pen,
you will at least expect to see a clear and distinct
account of what was gained by it.
In the year 1775, at a period when Mr. Hastings
was under an eclipse, when honor and virtue, ill the
character of General Clavering, Colonel Monson, and
Mr. Francis, sat for a short period at the CouncilBoard,- during that time, Mr. Hastings's conduct
upon this occasion was called into question. They
called for an account of the revenues of the country, -what was received, and what had been paid;
and in the account returned they found the amount
of the tribute due to the Mogul, 250,0001. , entered
as paid up to October, 1774. Thus far all appeared
fair upon the face of it; they took it for granted, as
your Lordships would take it for granted, at the first
view, that the tribute in reality had been paid up to
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 375
the time stated. The books were balanced: you
find a debtor; you find a creditor; every item posted in as regular a manner as possible. Whilst they
were examining this account, a Mr. Croftes, of whom
your Lordships have heard very often, as accountant-general, comes forward and declares that there
was a little error in the account. And what was
the error? That he had entered the Mogul's tribute
for one year more than it had actually been paid.
Here we have the small error of a payment to the
Mogul of 250,0001. This appeared strange. " Why,"
says Mr. Croftes, " I never discovered it; nor was
it ever intimated to me that it had been stopped
from October, 1773, till the other day, when I was
informed that I ought not to have made an entry
of the last payments. " These were his expressions.
You will find the whole relation in the Benigal Appendix, printed by the orders of the Court of Directors.
When Mr. Croftes was asked a very natural question,' Who first told you of your mistake? who acquainted you with Mr. Hastilgs's orders that the payment should be expunged from the account? " what is his
answer? It is an answer worthy of Mr. Middleton,
an answer worthy of Mr. Larkins, or of any of the
other white banians of Mr. Hastings: --" Oh, I have
forgotten. " Here you have an accountant-general
kept in ignorance, or who pretends to be ignorant,
of so large a payment as 250,0001. ; who enters it
falsely in his account; and when asked who apprised
him of his mistake, says that he has really forgotten.
Oh, my Lords, what resources there are in oblivion!
what resources there are in bad memory! No genius
ever has done so much for mankind as this mental
defect has done for Mr. Hastings's accountants. It
? ? ? ? 376 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
was said by one of the ancient philosophers, to a man
who proposed to teach people memory, -- "I wish
you could teach me oblivion; I wish you could teach
me to forget. " These people have certainly not been
taught the art of memory, but they appear perfect
masters of the art of forgetting. My Lords, this is
not all; and I must request your Lordships' attention to the whole of the account, as it appears in
the account of the arrears due to the King, annexed
to your minutes. Here is a kind of labyrinth, where
fraud runs into fraud. On the credit side you find
stated there, eight lacs paid to the Vizier, and to be
taken fiom the Mogul's tribute, for the support of an
army, of which he himself had stipulated to bear the
whole expenses. These eight lacs are thus fraudulently accounted for upon the face of the thing; and with respect to eighteen lacs, the remainder of the
tribute, there is no account given of it at all. This
sum Mr. Hastings must, therefore, have pocketed for
his own use, or that of his gang of peculators; and
whilst he was pretending to save you eight lacs by one
fraud, he committed another fraud of eighteen lacs for
himself: and this is the method by which one act of
peculation begets another in the economy of fraud.
Thus much of these affairs I think myself bound
to state to your Lordships upon this occasion; for,
although not one word has been produced by the
counsel to support the allegations of the prisoner at
your bar, yet, knowing that your Lordships, high as
you are, are still but men, knowing also that bold
assertions and confident declarations are apt to make
some impression upon all men's minds, we oppose
his allegations. But how do we oppose them? Not
by things of the like nature. We oppose them by
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 377
showing you that the House of Commons, after diligent investigation, has condemned them, and by stating the grounds upon which the House founded its condemnation. We send you to the records of the
Company, if you want to pursue this matter further,
to enliglhten your own minds upon the subject. Do
not think, my Lords, that we are not aware how
ridiculous it is for either party, the accuser or the
accused, to make here any assertions without producing vouchers for them: we know it; but we are
prepared and ready to take upon us the proof; and
we should be ashamed to assert anything that we are
not able directly to substantiate by an immediate reference to uncontradicted evidence.
With regard to the merits pleaded by the prisoner,
we could efface that plea with a single stroke, by
saying there is no evidence before your Lordships
of any such merits. But we have done more: we
have shown you that the things which lie has set up
as merits are atrocious crimes, and that there is not
one of theml which does not, in. the very nature and
circumstances of it, carry evidence of base corruption,
as well as of flagrant injustice and notorious breach
of public faith.
The next thing that he takes credit for is precisely an act of this description. The Mogul had, by
solemn stipulation with the Company, a royal domain
insured to him, consisting of two provinces, Corah
and Allahllabad. Of both these provinces Mr. Hastings deprived the Mogul, upon weak pretences, if
proved in point of fact, but which were never proved
in any sense, against him. I allude particularly to
his alleged alliance with thle Mahrattas, -a people,
by the way, with whom we were not then at war, and
? ? ? ? 378 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
with whom he had as good a right as Nudjif Khan to
enter into alliance at that time. He takes these domains, almost the last wrecks of empire left to the descendant of Tamerlane, from the man, I say, to
whose voluntary grants we owe it that we have put a
foot in Bengal. Surely, we ought, at least, to have
kept our faith in leaving this last retreat to that
unfortunate prince. The House of Commons was
of that opinion, and consequently they resolved,
"'That the transfer of Corah and Allahabad to the
Vizier was contrary to policy and good faith. " This
is what the Commons think of this business which
Mr. Hastings pleads as merits.
But I have not yet done with it. These provinces
are estimated as worth twenty-two lacs, or thereabouts,
that is, about 220,0001. , a year. I believe they were
improvable to a good deal more. But what does Mr.
Hastings do? Instead of taking them into the Company's possession for the purpose of preserving them
for the Mogul, upon the event of our being bettei
satisfied with his. conduct, or of appropriating them
to the Company's advantage, he sells them to the
Nabob of Oude, who he knew had the art, above all
men, of destroying a country which he was to keep,
or which he might fear he was not to keep, permanent
possession of. And what do you think he sold them
for? He sold them at a little more than two years'
purchase. Will any man believe that Mr. Hastings,
when lie sold these provinces to the Vizier for two
years' purchase, and when there was no man that
would not have given ten years' purchase for them,
did not put the difference between the real and pretended value into his own pocket, and that of his associates?
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. NINTH DAY. 379
We charge, therefore, first, that this act for which
he assumes merit was in itself a breach of faith;
next, that the sale of these provinces was scandalously conducted; and thirdly, that this sale, at one
fifth of the real value, was effected for corrupt purposes. Thus an act of threefold delinquency is one
of the merits stated with great pomp by his counsel.
Another of his merits is the stoppage of the pension which the Company was under an obligation to
pay to Nudjif Khain: a matter which, even if admitted to be a merit, is certainly not worth, as a setoff, much consideration. But there is another set-off of merit upon which
he plumes himself, and sets an exceedingly high
value: the sale of the Rohilla nation to that worthless tyrant, the Vizier, their cruel and bitter enemy,
- the cruelest tyrant, perhaps, that ever existed, and
their most implacable enemy, if we except Mr. Hastings, who appears to have had a concealed degree of
animosity, public, private, or political, against them.
To this man he sold this whole nation, whose country, cultivated like a garden, was soon reduced, as
Mr. Hastings, from the character of the Vizier, knew
would be the consequence, to a mere desert, for
100,0001. He sent a brigade of our troops to assist
the Vizier in extirpating these people, who were the
bravest; the most honorable, and generous nation upon earth. Those wlho were not left slaughtered to rot
upon the soil,f their native country were cruelly expelled from it, and sent to publish the merciless and
scandalous behavior of Great Britain from one end
of India to the other. I believe there is not an honest, ingenuous, or feeling heart upon the face of the
globe, I believe there is no man possessing the least
? ? ? ? 380 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
degree of regard to honor and justice, humanity and
good policy, that did not reprobate this act. The
Court of Directors, when they heard of it, reprobated
it in the strongest manner; the Court of Proprietors
reprobated it in the strongest manner; by the House
of Commons, after the most diligent investigation, it
was, in a resolution moved by Mr. Dundas, reprobated in the strongest manner: and this is the act which Mr. Hastings brings forward before your Lordships as a merit.
But, again, I can prove that in this, perhaps the
most atrocious of all his demerits, there is a most
horrid and nefarious secret corruption lurking. I
can tell your Lordships that Sir Robert Barker was
offered by this Vizier, for about one half of this very
country, namely, the country of the Rohillas, a sum
of fifty lacs ofrupees, - that is, 500,0001. Mr. Hastings was informed of this offer by Sir Robert Barker, in his letter of the 24th March, 1773. Still, in the
face of this information, Mr. Hastings took for the
Company only forty lacs of rupees. I leave your
Lordships to draw your own conclusion from these
facts. You will judge what became of the difference
between the price offered and the price accounted
for as taken. Nothing on earth can hide from mankind why Mr. Hastings made this wicked, corrupt bargain for the extermination of a brave and generous people,-why he took 400,0001. for the whole of that, for half of which he was offered and knew he
might have had 500,0001.
Your Lordships will observe, that for all these
facts there is no evidence, on the one side or on the
other, directly before you. Their merits have been
insisted upon, in long and laborious details and dis
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 381
cussions, both by Mr. Hastings himself and by his
counsel. We have answered them for that reason;
but we answer them with a direct reference to records and papers, from which your Lordships may judge of them as set-offs and merits. I believe your Lordships will now hardly receive them as merits to set
off guilt, since in every one of them there is both
guilt in the act, and strong ground for presuming
that he had corruptly taken money for himself.
The last act of merit that has been insisted upon
by his counsel is the Mahratta peace. They have
stated to you the distresses of the Company to justify the unhandsome and improper means that he took of making this peace. Mr. Hastings himself
has laid hold of the same opportunity of magnifying
the difficulties which, during his government, lhe had
to contend with. Here he displays all his tactics.
He spreads all his sails, and here catches every gale.
He says, " I found all India confederated against
you. I found not the Mahrattas alone; I found war
through a hundred hostile states fulminated against
you; I found the Peshwa, the Nizam, Hyder Ali, the
Rajah of Berar, all combined together for your destruction.
I stemmed the torrent: fortitude is my character. I faced and overcame all these difficulties, till I landed your affairs safe on shore, till I
stood the saviour of India. "
My Lords, we of the Hlouse of Commons have be.
fore heard all this; but we cannot forget that we
examined into every part of it, and that we did not
find a single fact stated by him that was not a ground
of censure and reprobation. The House of Commons, in the resolutions to which I have alluded,
have declared, that Mr. Hastings, the first author of
? ? ? ? 382 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
these proceedings, took advantage of an ambiguous
letter of the Court of Directors to break and violate
the most solemn, the most advantageous, and useful
treaty that the Company had ever made in India;
and that this conduct of his produced the strange
and unnatural junction which he says he found
formed against the Company, and with which he
had to combat. I should trouble your Lordships
with but a brief statement of the facts; and if I do
not enter more at large in observing upon them,
it is because I cannot but feel shocked at the indecency and impropriety of your being obliged to hear of that as merit which the House of Commons has
condemned in every part. Your Lordships received
obliquely evidence from the prisoner at your bar
upon this subject; yet, when we came and desired
your full inquiry into it, your Lordships, for wise
and just reasons, I have no doubt, refused our request. I must, however, again protest on the part
of the Commons against your Lordsliips receiving
such evidence at all as relevant to your judgment,
unless the House of Commons is fully heard upon it.
But to proceed. -- The government of Bombay
had offended the Mahratta States by a most violent
and scandalous aggression. They afterwards made
a treaty of peace with them, honorable and advantageous to the Company. This treaty was made by Colonel Upton, and is called the Treaty of Poorunder.
Mr. Hastings broke that treaty, upon his declared
principle, that you are to look in war for the resources of your government. All India was at that time in peace. Hyder Ali did not dare to attack us, because he was afraid that his natural enemies, the Mallrattas, would fall upon him. The Nizam could
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - NINTH DAY. 383
not attack us, because he was also afraid of the Mahrattas. The Mahratta state itself was divided into such discordant branches as to make it impossible
for them to unite in any one object; that commonwealth, which certainly at that time was the terror
of India, was so broken as to render it either totally
ineffective or easy to be resisted. There was not one
government in India that did not look up to Great
Britain as holding the balance of power, and in a
position to control and do justice to every individual
party in it. At that juncture Mr. Hastings deliberately broke the treaty of Poorunder; and afterwards,
by breaking faith with and attacking all the powers,
one after another, he produced that very union which
one would hardly have expected that the incapacity or ill faith of any Governor could have effected. Your Lordships shall hear the best and most incontrovertible evidence both of his incapacity and ill faith, and of the consequences which they produced.
It is the declaration of one of the latest of their allies
concerning all these proceedings. It is contained in
a letter from the Rajah of Berar, directly and strongly inculpating Mr. Hastings, upon facts which lie has never denied and by arguments which he has never
refuted, as being himself the cause of that very
junction of all the powers of India against us.
Letter from Benaram Pundit.
" As the friendship of the English is, at all events,
the first and most necessary consideration, I will
therefore exert myself in establishing peace: for the
power of making peace with all is the best object;
to this all other measures are subservient, and will
certainly be done by them, the English. You write,
? ? ? ? 384 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
that, after having laid the foundation of peace with
the Pundit Purdhaun, it is requisite that some troops
should be sent with General Goddard against IIyder
Naig, and take possession of his country, when all
those engagements and proposals may be assented to.
My reason is confounded in discussing this suggestion, at a time when Hyder Naig is in every respect
in alliance with the Peshwa, and has assisted with
his soul and life to repel the English. For us to
unite our troops with those of the enemy and extirpate him, would not this fix the stamp of infamy upon us forever? Would any prince, for generations to come, ever after assist us, or unite with the Peshwa? Be yourself the judge, and say whether
such a conduct would become a prince or not. Why,
then, do you mention it? why do you write it?
"T The case is as follows. -At first there was the
utmost enmity between Hyder Naig and the Pundit
Purdhaun, and there was the fullest intention of
sending troops into Hyder Naig's country; and after
the conclusion of the war with Bombay and the capture of Ragonaut Row, it was firmly resolved to send troops into that quarter; and a reliance was placed
in the treaty which was entered into by the gentlemen of Bombay before the war. But when Ragonaut again went to them, and General Goddard was ready
to commence hostilities, - when no regard was paid
to the friendly proposals made by us and the Pulldit
Peshwa, - when they desisted from coming to Poonali, agreeable to their promise, and a categorical answer was given to the deputies from Poonah, --
the ministers of Poonall then consulted among themselves, and, having advised with the Nabob Nizam ul Dowlah, they considered that as enemies were ap
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - NINTH DAY. 385
pearing on both sides, and it would be difficult to
cope with both, what was to be done? Peace must
be made with one of them, and war must be carried
on with the other. They wished above all things, in
their hearts, to make peace with the English gentlemen, and to unite with them to punish Hyder Naig;
but these gentlemen had plainly refused to enter into any terms of reconciliation. It was therefore advisable to accommodate matters with Iyder Naig, although he had been long an enemy. What else
could be done? Having nothing left for it, they were
compelled to enter into an union with Hyder. "
My Lords, this declaration, made to Mr. Hastings
himself, was never answered by him. Indeed, answered it could not be; because the thing was manifest, that all the desolation of the Carnatic by Hyder Ali, all these difficulties upon which he has insisted,
the whole of that union by which he was pressed,
and against which, as he says, he bore up with such
fortitude, was his own work, the consequences of his
bad faith, and his not listening to any reasonable
terms of peace.
But, my Lords, see what sort of peace he afterwards made. I could prove, if I were called upon
so to do, from this paper that they have had the
folly and madness to produce to you for other purposes, that he might at any time have made a better
treaty, and have concluded a more secure and advantageous peace, than that which at last lie acceded
to; that the treaty lie made was both disadvantageous
and dishonorable, inasmuch as we gave up every ally
we had, and sacrificed them to the resentment of the
enemy; that Mahdajee Sindia gained by it an empire
VOL. XII. 25
? ? ? ? 386 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
of a magnitude dangerous to our very existence in
India; that this chief was permitted to exterminate
all the many little gallant nations that stood between
us and the Mahrattas, and whose policy led them to
guard against the ambitious designs of that government. Almost all these lesser powers, from Central
India, quite up to the mountains that divide India
from Tartary, almost all these, I say, were exterminated by him, or were brought under a cruel subjection. The peace he made with Mr. Hastings was for the very purpose of doing all this; and Mr. Hastings
enabled him, and gave him the means of effecting it.
Advert next, my Lords, to what he did with other
allies. By the treaty of Poorunder, made by Colonel
Upton, and which he flagitiously broke, we had acquired, what, God knows, we little merited from the
Mahrattas, twelve lacs, (112,0001. ) for the expenses
of the war, - and a country of three lacs of annual
revenue, the province of Baroaclh and the isle of
Salsette, and other small islands convenient for us
upon that coast. This was a great, useful, and momentous accession of territory and of revenue: and
we got it with honor; for not one of our allies were
sacrificed by this treaty. We had even obtained
from the Mahrattas for Ragonaut Row, our support
of whom against that government was a principal
cause of the war, an establishment of a thousand
horse, to be maintained at their expense, and a jaghire for his other expenses of three lacs of rupees
per annum, payable monthly, with leave to reside
within their territories, with no other condition than
that he should not remove from the place fixed for
his residence for the purpose of exciting disturbances
against their government. They also stipulated for
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 387
the pardon of all his adherents except four; and the
only condition they required from us was, that we
should not assist him in case of any future disturbance. But Mr. Hastings, by his treaty, surrendered
that country of three lacs of revenue; he made no
stipulation for the expenses of the war, nor indemnity
for any of the persons whom he had seduced into the
rebellion in favor of Ragonaut Row; he gave them
all up to the vengeance of their governments, without
a stroke of a pen in their favor, to be banished, confiscated, and undone; and as to Ragonaut Row, instead of getting him this honorable and secure retreat, as he was bound to do, this unfortunate man was ordered to retire to his enemy's (Mahdajee Sindia's) country, or otherwise he was not to receive a
shilling for his maintenance.
I will now ask your Lordships, whether any man
but Mr. Hastings would claim a merit with his own
country for having broken the treaty of Poorunder?
Your Lordships know the opinion of the House of
Commons respecting it; his colleagues in Council
had remonstrated with him upon it, and had stated
the mischiefs that would result from it; and Sir
Eyre Coote, the commander of the Company's forces,
writing at the same time from Madras, states, that
he thought it would infallibly bring down upon them
Hyder Ali, who, they had reason to think, was bent
upon the utter destruction of the power of this country in India, and was only waiting for some crisis
in our affairs favorable to his designs. This, my
Lords, is to be one of the set-offs against all the
crimes, against the multiplied frauds, cruelties, and
oppressions, all the corrupt practices, prevarications,
and swindlings, that we have alleged against him.
? ? ? ? 388 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
My Lords, it would be an endless undertaking, and
such as, at this hour of the day, we, as well as your
Lordships, are little fitted to engage in, if I were to
attempt to search into and unveil all the secret motives, or to expose as it deserves the shameless audacity of this man's conduct. None of your Lordships can have observed without astonishment the selection of his merits, as he audaciously calls them,
which has been brought before you. The last of this
selection, in particular, looks as if he meant to revile and spit upon the legislature of his country, because we and you thought it fit and were resolved
to publish to all India that we will not countenance
offensive wars, and that you felt this so strongly as
to pass the first act of a kind that was ever made,
namely, an act to limit the discretionary power of
government in making war solely, - and because you
have done this solely and upon no other account and
for no other reason under heaven than the abuse
which that man at your bar has made of it, and for
which abuse he now presumes to take merit to himself. I will read this part of the act to your Lordships.
[Mr. Burke here read 24th Geo. III. cap. 25, sect. 34. ]
"And whereas to pursue schemes of conquest and
extension of dominion in India are measures repugnant to the wish, the honor, and policy of this nation, be it therefore further enacted by the authority
aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful for the Governor-General and Council of Fort William aforesaid,
without the express command and authority of the
said Court of Directors, or of the Secret Committee
of the said Court of Directors, in any case, (except
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 389
where hostilities have actually been commenced, or
preparations actually made for the commencement
of hostilities, against the British nation in India, or
against some of the princes or states dependent
thereon, or whose territories the said United Company shall be at such time engaged by any subsisting
treaty to defend or guaranty,) either to declare war,
or commence hostilities, or enter into any treaty for
making war, against any of the country princes or
states in India, or any treaty for guarantying the pos
sessions of any country princes or states; and that
in such case it shall not be lawful for the said Governor-General and Council to declare war, or commence hostilities, or enter into treaty for making war, against any other prince or state than such as shall
be actually committing hostilities or making preparations as aforesaid, or to make such treaty for guarantying the possessions of any prince or state, but upon the consideration of such prince or state actually engaging to assist the Company against such
hostilities commenced or preparations made as aforesaid; and in all cases where hostilities shall be commenced or treaty made, the said Governor-General and Council shall, by the most expeditious means they
can devise, communicate the same unto the said
Court of Directors, together with a full state of
the information and intelligence upon which they
shall have commenced such hostilities or made such
treaties, and their motives and reasons for the same
at large. "
It is the first act of the kind that ever was made
in this kingdom, the first statute, I believe, that ever
was made by the legislature of any nation, upon the
? ? ? ? 390 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
subject; and it was made solely upon the resolutions
to which we had come against the violent, intemperate, unjust, and perfidious acts of this man at your
Lordships' bar, and which acts are now produced before your Lordships as merits.
To show further to your Lordships how necessary
this act was, here is a part of his own correspondence,
the last thing I shall beg to read to your Lordships,
and upon which I shall make no other comment than
that you will learn from it how well British faith was
kept by this man, and that it was the violation of
British faith which prevented our having the most
advantageous peace, and brought on all the calamities of war. It is part of a letter from the minister
of the. Rajah of Berar, a man called Benaram Pundit,
with whom Mr. Hastings was at the time treating for
a peace; and he tells him why he might have had
peace at that time, and why lie had it not, --and
that the cause of it was his own ridiculous and even
buffoonish perfidiousness, which exposed him to the
ridicule of all the princes of India, and with him the
whole British nation.
"But afterwards reflecting that it was not advisable for me to be in such haste before I had fuilly understood all the contents of the papers, I opened them in the presence of the Maha Rajah, when all the
kharetas, letters, copies, and treaties were perused
with the greatest attention and care. First, they convinced us of your great truth and sincerity, and that
you never, from the beginning to this time, were
inclined to the present disputes and hostilities; and
next, that you have not included in the articles of
the treaty any of your wishes or inclinations; and in
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - NINTH DAY. 391
short, the garden of the treaty appeared to us, in
all its parts, green and flourishing: but though the
fruit of it was excellent, yet they appeared different
from those of Colonel Upton's treaty, (the particulars
of which I have frequently written to you,) and, upon
tasting them, proved to be bitter and very different,
when compared to the former articles. How can any
of the old and established obligations be omitted,
and new matters agreed to, when it is plain that
they will produce losses and damages? Some points
which you have mentioned, under the plea of the faith
and observance of treaties, are of such a nature that
the Poonah ministers can never assent to them. In all
engagements and important transactions, in which the
words but, and although, and besides, and whereas,
and uwhy, and other such words of doubt, are introduced, it gives an opening to disputes and misunderstandings. A treaty is meant for the entire removal of all differences, not for increase of them. My departure to Poonah has therefore been delayed. "
My Lords, consider to what ironies and insults
this nation was exposed, and how necessary it was
for us to originate that bill which your Lordships
passed into an act of Parliament, with his Majesty's
assent. The words but, although, besides, whereas, and
why, and such like, are introduced to give -an opening, and so on. Then he desires him to send another treaty, fit for him to sign.
"I have therefore kept the treaty with the greatest care and caution in my possession, and, having
taken a copy of it, I have added to each article another, which appeared to me proper and advisable,
and without any loss or disadvantage to the English,
? ? ? ? 392 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
or anything more in favor of the Pundit Purdhaun
than what was contained in the former treaties. This
I have sent to you, and hope that you will prepare
and send a treaty conformable to that, without any besides, or if, or why, or but, and whereas, that, as soon as it arrives, I may depart for Poonah, and, having united with me Row Mahdajee Sindia, and having brought
over the Nabob Nizam ul Dowlah to this business, I
may settle and adjust all matters which are in this
bad situation. As soon as I have received my dismission from thence, I would set off for Calcutta, and represent to you everything which for a long while
I have had on my mind, and by this transaction erect
to the view of all the world the standard of the greatness and goodness of the English and of my master,
and extinguish the flames of war with the waters of
friendship. The compassing all these advantages and
happy prospects depends entirely upon your will and
consent; and the power of bringing them to an issue
is in your hands alone. "
My Lords, you may here see the necessity there
was for passing the act of Parliament which I have
just read to you, in order to prevent in future the
recurrence of that want of faith of which Mr. Hastings had been so notoriously guilty, and by which he
had not only united all India against us, and had
hindered us from making, for a long time, any peace
at all, but had exposed the British character to the
irony, scorn, derision, and insult of the whole people
of that vast continent.
My Lords, in the progress of this impeachment,
you have heard our charges; you have heard the
prisoner's plea of merits; you have heard our obser
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- NINTH DAY. 393
vations on them. In the progress of this impeachnient, you have seen the condition in which Mr. Hastings received Benares; you have seen the condition in which Mr. Hastings received the country of the Rohillas; you have seen the condition in which
he received the country of Oude; you have seen the
condition in which he received the provinces of
Bengal; you have seen the condition of the country
when the native government was succeeded by that
of Mr. Hastings; you have seen the happiness and
prosperity of all its inhabitants, from those of the
highest to those of the lowest rank. My Lords, you
have seen the very reverse of all this under the government of Mr. Hastings, -- the country itself, all its beauty and glory, ending in a jungle for wild beasts.
You have seen flourishing families reduced to implore
that pity which the poorest man and the meanest
situation might very well call for. You have seen
whole nations in the mass reduced to a condition of
the same distress. These things in his government
at home. Abroad, scorn, contempt, and derision cast
upon and covering the British name, war stirred up,
and dishonorable treaties of peace made, by the total
prostitution of British faith. Now take, my Lords,
together, all the multiplied delinquencies which we
have proved, from the highest degree of tyranny to
the lowest degree of sharping and cheating, and then
judge, mny Lords, whether the House of Commons
could rest for one moment, without bringing these
matters, which have baffled all legislation at various times, before you, to try at last what judgment will do. Judgment is what gives force, effect, and
vigor to laws; laws without judgment are contemptible and ridiculous; we had better have no laws than
? ? ? ? 394 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
laws not enforced by judgments and suitable penalties upon delinquents. Revert, my Lords,. to all the sentences which have heretofore been passed by this
high court; look at the sentence passed upon Lord
Bacon, look at the sentence passed upon Lord
Macclesfield; and then compare the sentences which
your ancestors have given with the delinquencies
which were then before them, and you have the measure to be taken in your sentence upon the delinquent now before you. Your sentence, I say, will be measured according to that rule which ought to direct the judgment of all courts in like cases, lessening it for
a lesser offence, and aggravating it for a greater, until
the measure of justice is completely full.
My Lords, I have done; the part of the Commons
is concluded. With a trembling solicitude we consign
this product of our long, long labors to your charge.
Take it! - take it! It is a sacred trust. Never before was a cause of such magnitude submitted to any
human tribunal.
My Lords, at this awful close, in the name of the
Commons, and surrounded by them, I attest the retiring, I attest the advancing generations, between which, as a link in the great chain of eternal order,
we stand. We call this nation, we call the world to
witness, that the Commons have shrunk from no
labor, that we have been guilty of no prevarication,
that we have made no compromise with crime, that
we have not feared any odium whatsoever, in the long
warfare which we have carried on with the crimes,
with the vices, with the exorbitant wealth, with the
enormous and overpowering influence of Eastern
corruption. This war, my Lords, we have waged for
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 395
twenty-two years, and the conflict has been fought
at your Lordships' bar for the last seven years. My
Lords, twenty-two years is a great space in the scale
of the life of man; it is no inconsiderable space in
the history of a great nation.
through the whole would have been nearly inlpossible,) he takes all the rest that we have left behind
and have not brought here as charges, and converts
them, by a strange metamorphosis, into merits.
My Lords, we must insist, on the part of the House
of Commons, we must conjure your Lordships, for
the honor of a coordinate branch of the legislature,
that, whenever you are called upon to admit what we
have condemned as crimes to be merits, you will at
least give us an opportunity of being heard upon the
matter, - that you will not suffer Mr. Hastings, when
attempting to defend himself against our charges, in
an indirect and oblique manner to condemn or censure the House of Commons itself, as having misrepresented to be crimes the acts of a meritorious
servant of the public. Mr. Hastings has pleaded a
variety of merits, and every one of these merits, without the exception of one of them, have been either directly censured by the House of Commons, and censured as a ground for legislative provision, or they remain upon the records of the House of Commons,
with the vouchers for them, and proofs; and though
we have not actually come to the question upon every
one of them, we had come, before the year 1782, to
forty-five direct resolutions upon his conduct. These
resolutions were moved by a person to whom this
country is under many obligations, and whom we
must always mention with honor, whenever we are
speaking of high situations in this country, and of
great talents to support them, and of long public
services in the House of Commons: I mean Mr.
Dundas, then Lord Advocate of Scotland, and now
one of the principal Secretaries of State, and at the
head, and worthily and deservedly at the head, of
? ? ? ? 372 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
the East Indian department. This distinguished
statesman moved forty-five resolutions, the major part
of them directly condemning these very acts which
Mr. Hastings has pleaded as his merits, as being delinquencies and crimes. All that the House of Commons implore of your Lordships is, that you will not take these things, which we call crimes, to be merits,
without hearing the House of Commons upon the
subject-matter of them. I am sure you are too noble
and too generous, as well as too just and equitable,
to act in such a manner.
The first thing that Mr. Hastings brings forward
in his defence is, that, whereas the Company were
obliged to pay a certain tribute to the Mogul, in consideration of a grant by which the Moguls gave to
us the legal title under which we hold the provinces
of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, he did stop the payment of that tribute, or acknowledgment, small as it
was, -that, though bound by a treaty recognized by
the Company and recognized by the nation, though
bound by the very sunnud by which he held the very
office he was exercising, yet he had broken the treaty,
and refused to pay the stipulated acknowledgment.
Where are we, my Lords? Is this merit? Good
God Almighty! the greatest blockhead, the most igno
rant, miserable wretch, a person without either virtue
or talents, has nothing to do but to order a clerk to
strike a pen through such an account, and then to
make a merit of it to you. "Oh! " says he, " I have
by a mere breach of your faith, by a single dash of
my pen, saved you all this money which you were
bound to pay. I have exonerated you from the payment of it. I have gained you 250,0001. a year forever. Will you not reward a person who did you such
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- NINTH DAY. 373
a great and important service, by conniving a little
at his delinquencies? "
But the House of Commons will not allow that
this was a great and important service; on the contrary, they have declared the act itself to be censurable. There is our resolution,- Resolution the 7th: -- " That the conduct of the Company and their
servants in India to the King," (meaning the Mogul
king) "and Nudjif Khan, with respect to the tribute
payable to the one, and the stipend to the other, and
with respect to the transfer of the provinces of Corah
and Allahabad to the Vizier, was contrary to policy
and good faith; and that such wise and practicable
measures should be adopted in future as may tend
to redeem the national honor, and recover the confidence and attachment of the princes of India. "
This act of injustice, against which we have fulminated the thunder of our resolutions as a heavy
crime, as a crime that dishonored the nation, and
which measures ought to be taken to redress, this
man has the insolence to bring before your Lordships
as a set-off against the crimes we charge him with.
This outrageous defiance of the House of Commons,
this outrageous defiance of all the laws of his country, I hope your Lordships will not countenance.
You will not let it pass for nothing: on the contrary,
you will consider it as aggravating heavily his crimes.
And, above all, you will not suffer him to set off this,
which we have declared to be injurious to our national honor and credit, and which he himself does not
deny to be a breach of the public faith, against other
breaches of the public faith with which we charge
him, -or to justify one class of public crimes by
proving that he has committed others.
? ? ? ? 374 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
Your Lordships see that he justifies this crime upon the plea of its being profitable to the Company;
but lie shall not march off even on this ground with
flying colors. My Lords, pray observe in what manner he calculates these profits. Your Lordships will
find that he makes up the account of them much
in the same manner as he made up the account of
Nobkissin's money. There is, indeed, no account
which he has ever brought forth that does not carry upon it not only ill faith and national dishonor,
but direct proofs of corruption. When Mr. Hastings
values himself upon this shocking and outrageous
breach of faith, which required nothing but a base
and illiberal mind, without either talents, courage, or
skill, except that courage which defies all consequences, which defies shame, which defies the judgment and opinion of his country and of mankind, no othei
talents than may be displayed by the dash of a pen,
you will at least expect to see a clear and distinct
account of what was gained by it.
In the year 1775, at a period when Mr. Hastings
was under an eclipse, when honor and virtue, ill the
character of General Clavering, Colonel Monson, and
Mr. Francis, sat for a short period at the CouncilBoard,- during that time, Mr. Hastings's conduct
upon this occasion was called into question. They
called for an account of the revenues of the country, -what was received, and what had been paid;
and in the account returned they found the amount
of the tribute due to the Mogul, 250,0001. , entered
as paid up to October, 1774. Thus far all appeared
fair upon the face of it; they took it for granted, as
your Lordships would take it for granted, at the first
view, that the tribute in reality had been paid up to
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 375
the time stated. The books were balanced: you
find a debtor; you find a creditor; every item posted in as regular a manner as possible. Whilst they
were examining this account, a Mr. Croftes, of whom
your Lordships have heard very often, as accountant-general, comes forward and declares that there
was a little error in the account. And what was
the error? That he had entered the Mogul's tribute
for one year more than it had actually been paid.
Here we have the small error of a payment to the
Mogul of 250,0001. This appeared strange. " Why,"
says Mr. Croftes, " I never discovered it; nor was
it ever intimated to me that it had been stopped
from October, 1773, till the other day, when I was
informed that I ought not to have made an entry
of the last payments. " These were his expressions.
You will find the whole relation in the Benigal Appendix, printed by the orders of the Court of Directors.
When Mr. Croftes was asked a very natural question,' Who first told you of your mistake? who acquainted you with Mr. Hastilgs's orders that the payment should be expunged from the account? " what is his
answer? It is an answer worthy of Mr. Middleton,
an answer worthy of Mr. Larkins, or of any of the
other white banians of Mr. Hastings: --" Oh, I have
forgotten. " Here you have an accountant-general
kept in ignorance, or who pretends to be ignorant,
of so large a payment as 250,0001. ; who enters it
falsely in his account; and when asked who apprised
him of his mistake, says that he has really forgotten.
Oh, my Lords, what resources there are in oblivion!
what resources there are in bad memory! No genius
ever has done so much for mankind as this mental
defect has done for Mr. Hastings's accountants. It
? ? ? ? 376 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
was said by one of the ancient philosophers, to a man
who proposed to teach people memory, -- "I wish
you could teach me oblivion; I wish you could teach
me to forget. " These people have certainly not been
taught the art of memory, but they appear perfect
masters of the art of forgetting. My Lords, this is
not all; and I must request your Lordships' attention to the whole of the account, as it appears in
the account of the arrears due to the King, annexed
to your minutes. Here is a kind of labyrinth, where
fraud runs into fraud. On the credit side you find
stated there, eight lacs paid to the Vizier, and to be
taken fiom the Mogul's tribute, for the support of an
army, of which he himself had stipulated to bear the
whole expenses. These eight lacs are thus fraudulently accounted for upon the face of the thing; and with respect to eighteen lacs, the remainder of the
tribute, there is no account given of it at all. This
sum Mr. Hastings must, therefore, have pocketed for
his own use, or that of his gang of peculators; and
whilst he was pretending to save you eight lacs by one
fraud, he committed another fraud of eighteen lacs for
himself: and this is the method by which one act of
peculation begets another in the economy of fraud.
Thus much of these affairs I think myself bound
to state to your Lordships upon this occasion; for,
although not one word has been produced by the
counsel to support the allegations of the prisoner at
your bar, yet, knowing that your Lordships, high as
you are, are still but men, knowing also that bold
assertions and confident declarations are apt to make
some impression upon all men's minds, we oppose
his allegations. But how do we oppose them? Not
by things of the like nature. We oppose them by
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 377
showing you that the House of Commons, after diligent investigation, has condemned them, and by stating the grounds upon which the House founded its condemnation. We send you to the records of the
Company, if you want to pursue this matter further,
to enliglhten your own minds upon the subject. Do
not think, my Lords, that we are not aware how
ridiculous it is for either party, the accuser or the
accused, to make here any assertions without producing vouchers for them: we know it; but we are
prepared and ready to take upon us the proof; and
we should be ashamed to assert anything that we are
not able directly to substantiate by an immediate reference to uncontradicted evidence.
With regard to the merits pleaded by the prisoner,
we could efface that plea with a single stroke, by
saying there is no evidence before your Lordships
of any such merits. But we have done more: we
have shown you that the things which lie has set up
as merits are atrocious crimes, and that there is not
one of theml which does not, in. the very nature and
circumstances of it, carry evidence of base corruption,
as well as of flagrant injustice and notorious breach
of public faith.
The next thing that he takes credit for is precisely an act of this description. The Mogul had, by
solemn stipulation with the Company, a royal domain
insured to him, consisting of two provinces, Corah
and Allahllabad. Of both these provinces Mr. Hastings deprived the Mogul, upon weak pretences, if
proved in point of fact, but which were never proved
in any sense, against him. I allude particularly to
his alleged alliance with thle Mahrattas, -a people,
by the way, with whom we were not then at war, and
? ? ? ? 378 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
with whom he had as good a right as Nudjif Khan to
enter into alliance at that time. He takes these domains, almost the last wrecks of empire left to the descendant of Tamerlane, from the man, I say, to
whose voluntary grants we owe it that we have put a
foot in Bengal. Surely, we ought, at least, to have
kept our faith in leaving this last retreat to that
unfortunate prince. The House of Commons was
of that opinion, and consequently they resolved,
"'That the transfer of Corah and Allahabad to the
Vizier was contrary to policy and good faith. " This
is what the Commons think of this business which
Mr. Hastings pleads as merits.
But I have not yet done with it. These provinces
are estimated as worth twenty-two lacs, or thereabouts,
that is, about 220,0001. , a year. I believe they were
improvable to a good deal more. But what does Mr.
Hastings do? Instead of taking them into the Company's possession for the purpose of preserving them
for the Mogul, upon the event of our being bettei
satisfied with his. conduct, or of appropriating them
to the Company's advantage, he sells them to the
Nabob of Oude, who he knew had the art, above all
men, of destroying a country which he was to keep,
or which he might fear he was not to keep, permanent
possession of. And what do you think he sold them
for? He sold them at a little more than two years'
purchase. Will any man believe that Mr. Hastings,
when lie sold these provinces to the Vizier for two
years' purchase, and when there was no man that
would not have given ten years' purchase for them,
did not put the difference between the real and pretended value into his own pocket, and that of his associates?
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. NINTH DAY. 379
We charge, therefore, first, that this act for which
he assumes merit was in itself a breach of faith;
next, that the sale of these provinces was scandalously conducted; and thirdly, that this sale, at one
fifth of the real value, was effected for corrupt purposes. Thus an act of threefold delinquency is one
of the merits stated with great pomp by his counsel.
Another of his merits is the stoppage of the pension which the Company was under an obligation to
pay to Nudjif Khain: a matter which, even if admitted to be a merit, is certainly not worth, as a setoff, much consideration. But there is another set-off of merit upon which
he plumes himself, and sets an exceedingly high
value: the sale of the Rohilla nation to that worthless tyrant, the Vizier, their cruel and bitter enemy,
- the cruelest tyrant, perhaps, that ever existed, and
their most implacable enemy, if we except Mr. Hastings, who appears to have had a concealed degree of
animosity, public, private, or political, against them.
To this man he sold this whole nation, whose country, cultivated like a garden, was soon reduced, as
Mr. Hastings, from the character of the Vizier, knew
would be the consequence, to a mere desert, for
100,0001. He sent a brigade of our troops to assist
the Vizier in extirpating these people, who were the
bravest; the most honorable, and generous nation upon earth. Those wlho were not left slaughtered to rot
upon the soil,f their native country were cruelly expelled from it, and sent to publish the merciless and
scandalous behavior of Great Britain from one end
of India to the other. I believe there is not an honest, ingenuous, or feeling heart upon the face of the
globe, I believe there is no man possessing the least
? ? ? ? 380 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
degree of regard to honor and justice, humanity and
good policy, that did not reprobate this act. The
Court of Directors, when they heard of it, reprobated
it in the strongest manner; the Court of Proprietors
reprobated it in the strongest manner; by the House
of Commons, after the most diligent investigation, it
was, in a resolution moved by Mr. Dundas, reprobated in the strongest manner: and this is the act which Mr. Hastings brings forward before your Lordships as a merit.
But, again, I can prove that in this, perhaps the
most atrocious of all his demerits, there is a most
horrid and nefarious secret corruption lurking. I
can tell your Lordships that Sir Robert Barker was
offered by this Vizier, for about one half of this very
country, namely, the country of the Rohillas, a sum
of fifty lacs ofrupees, - that is, 500,0001. Mr. Hastings was informed of this offer by Sir Robert Barker, in his letter of the 24th March, 1773. Still, in the
face of this information, Mr. Hastings took for the
Company only forty lacs of rupees. I leave your
Lordships to draw your own conclusion from these
facts. You will judge what became of the difference
between the price offered and the price accounted
for as taken. Nothing on earth can hide from mankind why Mr. Hastings made this wicked, corrupt bargain for the extermination of a brave and generous people,-why he took 400,0001. for the whole of that, for half of which he was offered and knew he
might have had 500,0001.
Your Lordships will observe, that for all these
facts there is no evidence, on the one side or on the
other, directly before you. Their merits have been
insisted upon, in long and laborious details and dis
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 381
cussions, both by Mr. Hastings himself and by his
counsel. We have answered them for that reason;
but we answer them with a direct reference to records and papers, from which your Lordships may judge of them as set-offs and merits. I believe your Lordships will now hardly receive them as merits to set
off guilt, since in every one of them there is both
guilt in the act, and strong ground for presuming
that he had corruptly taken money for himself.
The last act of merit that has been insisted upon
by his counsel is the Mahratta peace. They have
stated to you the distresses of the Company to justify the unhandsome and improper means that he took of making this peace. Mr. Hastings himself
has laid hold of the same opportunity of magnifying
the difficulties which, during his government, lhe had
to contend with. Here he displays all his tactics.
He spreads all his sails, and here catches every gale.
He says, " I found all India confederated against
you. I found not the Mahrattas alone; I found war
through a hundred hostile states fulminated against
you; I found the Peshwa, the Nizam, Hyder Ali, the
Rajah of Berar, all combined together for your destruction.
I stemmed the torrent: fortitude is my character. I faced and overcame all these difficulties, till I landed your affairs safe on shore, till I
stood the saviour of India. "
My Lords, we of the Hlouse of Commons have be.
fore heard all this; but we cannot forget that we
examined into every part of it, and that we did not
find a single fact stated by him that was not a ground
of censure and reprobation. The House of Commons, in the resolutions to which I have alluded,
have declared, that Mr. Hastings, the first author of
? ? ? ? 382 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
these proceedings, took advantage of an ambiguous
letter of the Court of Directors to break and violate
the most solemn, the most advantageous, and useful
treaty that the Company had ever made in India;
and that this conduct of his produced the strange
and unnatural junction which he says he found
formed against the Company, and with which he
had to combat. I should trouble your Lordships
with but a brief statement of the facts; and if I do
not enter more at large in observing upon them,
it is because I cannot but feel shocked at the indecency and impropriety of your being obliged to hear of that as merit which the House of Commons has
condemned in every part. Your Lordships received
obliquely evidence from the prisoner at your bar
upon this subject; yet, when we came and desired
your full inquiry into it, your Lordships, for wise
and just reasons, I have no doubt, refused our request. I must, however, again protest on the part
of the Commons against your Lordsliips receiving
such evidence at all as relevant to your judgment,
unless the House of Commons is fully heard upon it.
But to proceed. -- The government of Bombay
had offended the Mahratta States by a most violent
and scandalous aggression. They afterwards made
a treaty of peace with them, honorable and advantageous to the Company. This treaty was made by Colonel Upton, and is called the Treaty of Poorunder.
Mr. Hastings broke that treaty, upon his declared
principle, that you are to look in war for the resources of your government. All India was at that time in peace. Hyder Ali did not dare to attack us, because he was afraid that his natural enemies, the Mallrattas, would fall upon him. The Nizam could
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - NINTH DAY. 383
not attack us, because he was also afraid of the Mahrattas. The Mahratta state itself was divided into such discordant branches as to make it impossible
for them to unite in any one object; that commonwealth, which certainly at that time was the terror
of India, was so broken as to render it either totally
ineffective or easy to be resisted. There was not one
government in India that did not look up to Great
Britain as holding the balance of power, and in a
position to control and do justice to every individual
party in it. At that juncture Mr. Hastings deliberately broke the treaty of Poorunder; and afterwards,
by breaking faith with and attacking all the powers,
one after another, he produced that very union which
one would hardly have expected that the incapacity or ill faith of any Governor could have effected. Your Lordships shall hear the best and most incontrovertible evidence both of his incapacity and ill faith, and of the consequences which they produced.
It is the declaration of one of the latest of their allies
concerning all these proceedings. It is contained in
a letter from the Rajah of Berar, directly and strongly inculpating Mr. Hastings, upon facts which lie has never denied and by arguments which he has never
refuted, as being himself the cause of that very
junction of all the powers of India against us.
Letter from Benaram Pundit.
" As the friendship of the English is, at all events,
the first and most necessary consideration, I will
therefore exert myself in establishing peace: for the
power of making peace with all is the best object;
to this all other measures are subservient, and will
certainly be done by them, the English. You write,
? ? ? ? 384 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
that, after having laid the foundation of peace with
the Pundit Purdhaun, it is requisite that some troops
should be sent with General Goddard against IIyder
Naig, and take possession of his country, when all
those engagements and proposals may be assented to.
My reason is confounded in discussing this suggestion, at a time when Hyder Naig is in every respect
in alliance with the Peshwa, and has assisted with
his soul and life to repel the English. For us to
unite our troops with those of the enemy and extirpate him, would not this fix the stamp of infamy upon us forever? Would any prince, for generations to come, ever after assist us, or unite with the Peshwa? Be yourself the judge, and say whether
such a conduct would become a prince or not. Why,
then, do you mention it? why do you write it?
"T The case is as follows. -At first there was the
utmost enmity between Hyder Naig and the Pundit
Purdhaun, and there was the fullest intention of
sending troops into Hyder Naig's country; and after
the conclusion of the war with Bombay and the capture of Ragonaut Row, it was firmly resolved to send troops into that quarter; and a reliance was placed
in the treaty which was entered into by the gentlemen of Bombay before the war. But when Ragonaut again went to them, and General Goddard was ready
to commence hostilities, - when no regard was paid
to the friendly proposals made by us and the Pulldit
Peshwa, - when they desisted from coming to Poonali, agreeable to their promise, and a categorical answer was given to the deputies from Poonah, --
the ministers of Poonall then consulted among themselves, and, having advised with the Nabob Nizam ul Dowlah, they considered that as enemies were ap
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - NINTH DAY. 385
pearing on both sides, and it would be difficult to
cope with both, what was to be done? Peace must
be made with one of them, and war must be carried
on with the other. They wished above all things, in
their hearts, to make peace with the English gentlemen, and to unite with them to punish Hyder Naig;
but these gentlemen had plainly refused to enter into any terms of reconciliation. It was therefore advisable to accommodate matters with Iyder Naig, although he had been long an enemy. What else
could be done? Having nothing left for it, they were
compelled to enter into an union with Hyder. "
My Lords, this declaration, made to Mr. Hastings
himself, was never answered by him. Indeed, answered it could not be; because the thing was manifest, that all the desolation of the Carnatic by Hyder Ali, all these difficulties upon which he has insisted,
the whole of that union by which he was pressed,
and against which, as he says, he bore up with such
fortitude, was his own work, the consequences of his
bad faith, and his not listening to any reasonable
terms of peace.
But, my Lords, see what sort of peace he afterwards made. I could prove, if I were called upon
so to do, from this paper that they have had the
folly and madness to produce to you for other purposes, that he might at any time have made a better
treaty, and have concluded a more secure and advantageous peace, than that which at last lie acceded
to; that the treaty lie made was both disadvantageous
and dishonorable, inasmuch as we gave up every ally
we had, and sacrificed them to the resentment of the
enemy; that Mahdajee Sindia gained by it an empire
VOL. XII. 25
? ? ? ? 386 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
of a magnitude dangerous to our very existence in
India; that this chief was permitted to exterminate
all the many little gallant nations that stood between
us and the Mahrattas, and whose policy led them to
guard against the ambitious designs of that government. Almost all these lesser powers, from Central
India, quite up to the mountains that divide India
from Tartary, almost all these, I say, were exterminated by him, or were brought under a cruel subjection. The peace he made with Mr. Hastings was for the very purpose of doing all this; and Mr. Hastings
enabled him, and gave him the means of effecting it.
Advert next, my Lords, to what he did with other
allies. By the treaty of Poorunder, made by Colonel
Upton, and which he flagitiously broke, we had acquired, what, God knows, we little merited from the
Mahrattas, twelve lacs, (112,0001. ) for the expenses
of the war, - and a country of three lacs of annual
revenue, the province of Baroaclh and the isle of
Salsette, and other small islands convenient for us
upon that coast. This was a great, useful, and momentous accession of territory and of revenue: and
we got it with honor; for not one of our allies were
sacrificed by this treaty. We had even obtained
from the Mahrattas for Ragonaut Row, our support
of whom against that government was a principal
cause of the war, an establishment of a thousand
horse, to be maintained at their expense, and a jaghire for his other expenses of three lacs of rupees
per annum, payable monthly, with leave to reside
within their territories, with no other condition than
that he should not remove from the place fixed for
his residence for the purpose of exciting disturbances
against their government. They also stipulated for
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 387
the pardon of all his adherents except four; and the
only condition they required from us was, that we
should not assist him in case of any future disturbance. But Mr. Hastings, by his treaty, surrendered
that country of three lacs of revenue; he made no
stipulation for the expenses of the war, nor indemnity
for any of the persons whom he had seduced into the
rebellion in favor of Ragonaut Row; he gave them
all up to the vengeance of their governments, without
a stroke of a pen in their favor, to be banished, confiscated, and undone; and as to Ragonaut Row, instead of getting him this honorable and secure retreat, as he was bound to do, this unfortunate man was ordered to retire to his enemy's (Mahdajee Sindia's) country, or otherwise he was not to receive a
shilling for his maintenance.
I will now ask your Lordships, whether any man
but Mr. Hastings would claim a merit with his own
country for having broken the treaty of Poorunder?
Your Lordships know the opinion of the House of
Commons respecting it; his colleagues in Council
had remonstrated with him upon it, and had stated
the mischiefs that would result from it; and Sir
Eyre Coote, the commander of the Company's forces,
writing at the same time from Madras, states, that
he thought it would infallibly bring down upon them
Hyder Ali, who, they had reason to think, was bent
upon the utter destruction of the power of this country in India, and was only waiting for some crisis
in our affairs favorable to his designs. This, my
Lords, is to be one of the set-offs against all the
crimes, against the multiplied frauds, cruelties, and
oppressions, all the corrupt practices, prevarications,
and swindlings, that we have alleged against him.
? ? ? ? 388 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
My Lords, it would be an endless undertaking, and
such as, at this hour of the day, we, as well as your
Lordships, are little fitted to engage in, if I were to
attempt to search into and unveil all the secret motives, or to expose as it deserves the shameless audacity of this man's conduct. None of your Lordships can have observed without astonishment the selection of his merits, as he audaciously calls them,
which has been brought before you. The last of this
selection, in particular, looks as if he meant to revile and spit upon the legislature of his country, because we and you thought it fit and were resolved
to publish to all India that we will not countenance
offensive wars, and that you felt this so strongly as
to pass the first act of a kind that was ever made,
namely, an act to limit the discretionary power of
government in making war solely, - and because you
have done this solely and upon no other account and
for no other reason under heaven than the abuse
which that man at your bar has made of it, and for
which abuse he now presumes to take merit to himself. I will read this part of the act to your Lordships.
[Mr. Burke here read 24th Geo. III. cap. 25, sect. 34. ]
"And whereas to pursue schemes of conquest and
extension of dominion in India are measures repugnant to the wish, the honor, and policy of this nation, be it therefore further enacted by the authority
aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful for the Governor-General and Council of Fort William aforesaid,
without the express command and authority of the
said Court of Directors, or of the Secret Committee
of the said Court of Directors, in any case, (except
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 389
where hostilities have actually been commenced, or
preparations actually made for the commencement
of hostilities, against the British nation in India, or
against some of the princes or states dependent
thereon, or whose territories the said United Company shall be at such time engaged by any subsisting
treaty to defend or guaranty,) either to declare war,
or commence hostilities, or enter into any treaty for
making war, against any of the country princes or
states in India, or any treaty for guarantying the pos
sessions of any country princes or states; and that
in such case it shall not be lawful for the said Governor-General and Council to declare war, or commence hostilities, or enter into treaty for making war, against any other prince or state than such as shall
be actually committing hostilities or making preparations as aforesaid, or to make such treaty for guarantying the possessions of any prince or state, but upon the consideration of such prince or state actually engaging to assist the Company against such
hostilities commenced or preparations made as aforesaid; and in all cases where hostilities shall be commenced or treaty made, the said Governor-General and Council shall, by the most expeditious means they
can devise, communicate the same unto the said
Court of Directors, together with a full state of
the information and intelligence upon which they
shall have commenced such hostilities or made such
treaties, and their motives and reasons for the same
at large. "
It is the first act of the kind that ever was made
in this kingdom, the first statute, I believe, that ever
was made by the legislature of any nation, upon the
? ? ? ? 390 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
subject; and it was made solely upon the resolutions
to which we had come against the violent, intemperate, unjust, and perfidious acts of this man at your
Lordships' bar, and which acts are now produced before your Lordships as merits.
To show further to your Lordships how necessary
this act was, here is a part of his own correspondence,
the last thing I shall beg to read to your Lordships,
and upon which I shall make no other comment than
that you will learn from it how well British faith was
kept by this man, and that it was the violation of
British faith which prevented our having the most
advantageous peace, and brought on all the calamities of war. It is part of a letter from the minister
of the. Rajah of Berar, a man called Benaram Pundit,
with whom Mr. Hastings was at the time treating for
a peace; and he tells him why he might have had
peace at that time, and why lie had it not, --and
that the cause of it was his own ridiculous and even
buffoonish perfidiousness, which exposed him to the
ridicule of all the princes of India, and with him the
whole British nation.
"But afterwards reflecting that it was not advisable for me to be in such haste before I had fuilly understood all the contents of the papers, I opened them in the presence of the Maha Rajah, when all the
kharetas, letters, copies, and treaties were perused
with the greatest attention and care. First, they convinced us of your great truth and sincerity, and that
you never, from the beginning to this time, were
inclined to the present disputes and hostilities; and
next, that you have not included in the articles of
the treaty any of your wishes or inclinations; and in
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. - NINTH DAY. 391
short, the garden of the treaty appeared to us, in
all its parts, green and flourishing: but though the
fruit of it was excellent, yet they appeared different
from those of Colonel Upton's treaty, (the particulars
of which I have frequently written to you,) and, upon
tasting them, proved to be bitter and very different,
when compared to the former articles. How can any
of the old and established obligations be omitted,
and new matters agreed to, when it is plain that
they will produce losses and damages? Some points
which you have mentioned, under the plea of the faith
and observance of treaties, are of such a nature that
the Poonah ministers can never assent to them. In all
engagements and important transactions, in which the
words but, and although, and besides, and whereas,
and uwhy, and other such words of doubt, are introduced, it gives an opening to disputes and misunderstandings. A treaty is meant for the entire removal of all differences, not for increase of them. My departure to Poonah has therefore been delayed. "
My Lords, consider to what ironies and insults
this nation was exposed, and how necessary it was
for us to originate that bill which your Lordships
passed into an act of Parliament, with his Majesty's
assent. The words but, although, besides, whereas, and
why, and such like, are introduced to give -an opening, and so on. Then he desires him to send another treaty, fit for him to sign.
"I have therefore kept the treaty with the greatest care and caution in my possession, and, having
taken a copy of it, I have added to each article another, which appeared to me proper and advisable,
and without any loss or disadvantage to the English,
? ? ? ? 392 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
or anything more in favor of the Pundit Purdhaun
than what was contained in the former treaties. This
I have sent to you, and hope that you will prepare
and send a treaty conformable to that, without any besides, or if, or why, or but, and whereas, that, as soon as it arrives, I may depart for Poonah, and, having united with me Row Mahdajee Sindia, and having brought
over the Nabob Nizam ul Dowlah to this business, I
may settle and adjust all matters which are in this
bad situation. As soon as I have received my dismission from thence, I would set off for Calcutta, and represent to you everything which for a long while
I have had on my mind, and by this transaction erect
to the view of all the world the standard of the greatness and goodness of the English and of my master,
and extinguish the flames of war with the waters of
friendship. The compassing all these advantages and
happy prospects depends entirely upon your will and
consent; and the power of bringing them to an issue
is in your hands alone. "
My Lords, you may here see the necessity there
was for passing the act of Parliament which I have
just read to you, in order to prevent in future the
recurrence of that want of faith of which Mr. Hastings had been so notoriously guilty, and by which he
had not only united all India against us, and had
hindered us from making, for a long time, any peace
at all, but had exposed the British character to the
irony, scorn, derision, and insult of the whole people
of that vast continent.
My Lords, in the progress of this impeachment,
you have heard our charges; you have heard the
prisoner's plea of merits; you have heard our obser
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -- NINTH DAY. 393
vations on them. In the progress of this impeachnient, you have seen the condition in which Mr. Hastings received Benares; you have seen the condition in which Mr. Hastings received the country of the Rohillas; you have seen the condition in which
he received the country of Oude; you have seen the
condition in which he received the provinces of
Bengal; you have seen the condition of the country
when the native government was succeeded by that
of Mr. Hastings; you have seen the happiness and
prosperity of all its inhabitants, from those of the
highest to those of the lowest rank. My Lords, you
have seen the very reverse of all this under the government of Mr. Hastings, -- the country itself, all its beauty and glory, ending in a jungle for wild beasts.
You have seen flourishing families reduced to implore
that pity which the poorest man and the meanest
situation might very well call for. You have seen
whole nations in the mass reduced to a condition of
the same distress. These things in his government
at home. Abroad, scorn, contempt, and derision cast
upon and covering the British name, war stirred up,
and dishonorable treaties of peace made, by the total
prostitution of British faith. Now take, my Lords,
together, all the multiplied delinquencies which we
have proved, from the highest degree of tyranny to
the lowest degree of sharping and cheating, and then
judge, mny Lords, whether the House of Commons
could rest for one moment, without bringing these
matters, which have baffled all legislation at various times, before you, to try at last what judgment will do. Judgment is what gives force, effect, and
vigor to laws; laws without judgment are contemptible and ridiculous; we had better have no laws than
? ? ? ? 394 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
laws not enforced by judgments and suitable penalties upon delinquents. Revert, my Lords,. to all the sentences which have heretofore been passed by this
high court; look at the sentence passed upon Lord
Bacon, look at the sentence passed upon Lord
Macclesfield; and then compare the sentences which
your ancestors have given with the delinquencies
which were then before them, and you have the measure to be taken in your sentence upon the delinquent now before you. Your sentence, I say, will be measured according to that rule which ought to direct the judgment of all courts in like cases, lessening it for
a lesser offence, and aggravating it for a greater, until
the measure of justice is completely full.
My Lords, I have done; the part of the Commons
is concluded. With a trembling solicitude we consign
this product of our long, long labors to your charge.
Take it! - take it! It is a sacred trust. Never before was a cause of such magnitude submitted to any
human tribunal.
My Lords, at this awful close, in the name of the
Commons, and surrounded by them, I attest the retiring, I attest the advancing generations, between which, as a link in the great chain of eternal order,
we stand. We call this nation, we call the world to
witness, that the Commons have shrunk from no
labor, that we have been guilty of no prevarication,
that we have made no compromise with crime, that
we have not feared any odium whatsoever, in the long
warfare which we have carried on with the crimes,
with the vices, with the exorbitant wealth, with the
enormous and overpowering influence of Eastern
corruption. This war, my Lords, we have waged for
? ? ? ? SPEECH IN REPLY. -NINTH DAY. 395
twenty-two years, and the conflict has been fought
at your Lordships' bar for the last seven years. My
Lords, twenty-two years is a great space in the scale
of the life of man; it is no inconsiderable space in
the history of a great nation.
