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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works Of The Right Honourable Edmund
Burke, Vol. IX. (of 12), by Edmund Burke
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Works Of The Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IX. (of 12)
Author: Edmund Burke
Release Date: March 27, 2005 [EBook #13968]
[Date last upated: May 5, 2006]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDMUND BURKE, VOL. IX. ***
Produced by Paul Murray, Keith M. Eckrich, the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file
was produced from images generously made available by the
Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at
http://gallica.bnf.fr.
THE WORKS
OF
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
EDMUND BURKE
IN TWELVE VOLUMES
VOLUME THE NINTH
[Illustration: Burke Coat of Arms.]
LONDON
JOHN C. NIMMO
14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, W.C.
MDCCCLXXXVII
CONTENTS OF VOL IX.
ARTICLES OF CHARGE OF HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS AGAINST
WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE, LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL: PRESENTED
TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN APRIL AND MAY, 1786.--ARTICLES VII.-XXII.
ART. VII. CONTRACTS 3
VIII. PRESENTS 22
IX. RESIGNATION OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR-GENERAL 42
X. SURGEON-GENERAL'S CONTRACT 60
XI. CONTRACTS FOR POOLBUNDY REPAIRS 60
XII. CONTRACTS FOR OPIUM 63
XIII. APPOINTMENT OF R.J. SULIVAN 70
XIV. RANNA OF GOHUD 72
XV. REVENUES
PART I. 79
PART II. 87
XVI. MISDEMEANORS IN OUDE 95
XVII. MAHOMED REZA KHAN 179
XVIII. THE MOGUL DELIVERED UP TO THE MAHRATTAS 202
XIX. LIBEL ON THE COURT OF DIRECTORS 228
XX. MAHRATTA WAR AND PEACE 238
XXI. CORRESPONDENCE 266
XXII. FYZOOLA KHAN
PART I. RIGHTS OF FYZOOLA KHAN, ETC.,
BEFORE THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG 268
PART II. RIGHTS OF FYZOOLA KHAN UNDER THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG 275
PART III. GUARANTY OF THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG 278
PART IV. THANKS OF THE BOARD TO FYZOOLA KHAN 286
PART V. DEMAND OF FIVE THOUSAND HORSE 287
PART VI. TREATY OF CHUNAR 296
PART VII. CONSEQUENCES OF THE TREATY OF CHUNAR 302
PART VIII. PECUNIARY COMMUTATION OF THE STIPULATED AID 306
PART IX. FULL VINDICATION OF FYZOOLA KHAN BY
MAJOR PALMER AND MR. HASTINGS 313
APPENDIX TO THE EIGHTH AND SIXTEENTH CHARGES 319
* * * * *
SPEECHES IN THE IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE,
LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL.
SPEECH IN OPENING THE IMPEACHMENT.
FIRST DAY: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1788 329
SECOND DAY; SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16 396
ARTICLES OF CHARGE
OF
HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
AGAINST
WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE,
LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL:
PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN APRIL AND MAY, 1786.
ARTICLES VII.-XXII.
VII.--CONTRACTS.
That the Court of Directors of the East India Company had laid down the
following fundamental rules for the conduct of such of the Company's
business in Bengal as could be performed by contract, and had repeatedly
and strictly ordered the Governor and Council of Port William to observe
those rules, viz.: That all contracts should be publicly advertised, and
the most reasonable proposals accepted; that the contracts of
provisions, and for furnishing draught and carriage bullocks for the
army, should be _annual_; and that they should not fail to advertise for
and receive proposals for those contracts _every year_.
That the said Warren Hastings, in direct disobedience to the said
positive orders, and, as the Directors themselves say, _by a most
deliberate breach of his duty_, did, in September, 1777, accept of
proposals offered by Ernest Alexander Johnson for providing draught and
carriage bullocks, and for victualling the Europeans, without
advertising for proposals, as he was expressly commanded to do, and
extended the contract for _three years_, which was positively ordered to
be _annual_,--and, notwithstanding that extension of the period, which
ought at least to have been compensated by some advantage to the Company
in the conditions, did conclude the said contract _upon terms less
advantageous than the preceding contract, and therefore not on the
lowest terms procurable_. That the said Warren Hastings, in defiance of
the judgment and lawful orders of his superiors, which in this case left
him no option, declared, that _he disapproved of publishing for
proposals, and that the contract was reduced too low already_: thereby
avowing himself the advocate of the contractor, against whom, as
representative of the Company, and guardian of their interests, he
properly was party, and preferring the advantage of the contractor to
those of his own constituents and employers. That the Court of Directors
of the East India Company, having carefully considered the circumstances
and tendency of this transaction, condemned it in the strongest terms,
declaring, that they would _not permit_ the contract to be continued,
and that, "if the contractor should think himself aggrieved, and take
measures in consequence by which the Company became involved in loss or
damage, they should certainly hold the majority of the Council
responsible for such loss or damage, and proceed against them
accordingly."--That the said Warren Hastings, in defiance of orders,
which the Directors say were _plain and unequivocal_, did, in January,
1777, receive from George Templer a proposal essentially different from
the advertisement published by the Governor-General and Council for
receiving proposals for feeding the Company's elephants, and did accept
thereof, not only without having recourse to the proper means for
ascertaining whether the said proposal was the lowest that would be
offered, but with another actually before the board nearly thirty per
cent lower than that made by the said George Templer, to whom the said
Warren Hastings granted a contract, in the terms proposed by the said
Templer, for three years, and did afterwards extend the same to five
years, with new and distinct conditions, accepted by the said Warren
Hastings, without advertising for fresh proposals, by which the Company
were very considerable losers: on all which the Court of Directors
declared, "that this waste of their property could not be permitted;
that he, the said Warren Hastings, had disregarded their authority, and
disobeyed their orders, in not taking the lowest offers"; and they
ordered that the contract for elephants should be annulled: and the said
Directors further declared, that, "if the contractor should recover
damages of the Company for breach of engagement, they were determined,
in such case, to institute a suit at law against those members of the
board who had presumed, in direct breach of their orders, to prefer the
interest of an individual to that of the Company."--That the said Warren
Hastings did, in the year 1777, conclude with ---- Forde a contract for
an armed vessel for the pilotage of the Chittagong river, and for the
defence of the coast and river against the incursions of robbers, for
the term of five years, in further disobedience of the Company's orders
respecting the mode and duration of contracts, and with a considerable
increase of expense to the Company. That the farming out the defence of
a country to a contractor, being wholly unprecedented, and evidently
absurd, could have no real object but to enrich the contractor at the
Company's expense: since either the service was not dangerous, and then
the establishment was totally unnecessary, or, if it was a dangerous
service, it was evidently the interest of the contractor to avoid such
danger, and not to hazard the loss of his ship or men, which must be
replaced at his own expense, and therefore that an active and faithful
discharge of the contractor's duty was incompatible with his
interest.--That the said Warren Hastings, in further defiance of the
Company's orders, and in breach of the established rule of their
service, did, in the year 1777, conclude a contract with the master and
deputy master attendant of the Company's marine or pilot service, for
supplying the said marine with naval stores, and executing the said
service for the term of two years, and without advertising for
proposals. That the use and expenditure of such stores and the direction
of the pilot vessels are under the management and at the disposition of
the master attendant by virtue of his office; that he is officially the
proper and regular check upon the person who furnishes the stores, and
bound by his duty to take care that all contracts for furnishing such
stores are duly and faithfully executed. That the said Warren Hastings,
by uniting the supply and the check in the same hands, did not only
disobey the Company's specific orders, and violate the fundamental rules
and practice of the service, but did overset the only just and rational
principle on which this and every other service of a similar nature
ought to be conducted, and did not only subject the Company's interest,
in point of expense, to fraud and collusion, but did thereby expose the
navigation of the Bengal river to manifest hazard and distress:
considering that it is the duty of the master attendant to take care
that the pilot vessels are constantly stationed in the roads to wait
the arrival of the Company's ships, especially in tempestuous weather,
and that they should be in a constant condition to keep the sea; whereas
it is manifestly the interest of the contractor, in the first instance,
to equip the said vessels as scantily as possible, and afterwards to
expose them as little as possible to any service in which the stores to
be replaced by him might be lost or consumed. And, finally, that in
June, 1779, the said contract was prolonged to the said master
attendant, by the said Warren Hastings, for the further period of two
years from the expiration of the first, without advertising for
proposals.--That it does not appear that any of the preceding contracts
have been annulled, or the charges attending any of them abated, or that
the Court of Directors have ever taken any measures to compel the said
Warren Hastings to indemnify the Company, or to make good any part of
the loss incurred by the said contracts.
That in the year 1777 the said Warren Hastings did recommend and appoint
John Belli, at that time his private secretary, to be agent for
supplying the garrison of Fort William with victualling stores; that the
stores were to be purchased with money advanced by the Company, and that
the said agent was to be allowed a commission or percentage for his risk
and trouble; that, in order to ascertain what sum would be a reasonable
compensation for the agent, the Governor-General and Council agreed to
consult some of the principal merchants of Calcutta; that the merchants
so consulted reported their opinion, that twenty per cent on the prime
cost of the stores would be a reasonable compensation to the agent;
that, nevertheless, the said Warren Hastings, supported by the vote and
concurrence of Richard Barwell, then a member of the Supreme Council,
did propose and carry it, that thirty per cent per annum should be
allowed upon all stores to be provided by the agent. That the said
Warren Hastings professed that "he preferred an agency to a contract for
this service, because, if it were performed by contract, it must then be
advertised, and the world would know what provision was made for the
defence of the fort": as if its being publicly known that the fort was
well provided for defence were likely to encourage an enemy to attack
it. That in August, 1779, in defiance of the principle laid down by
himself for preferring an agency to a contract, the said Warren Hastings
did propose and carry it, that the agency should be _converted into a
contract_, to be granted to the said John Belli, without advertising for
proposals, and fixed for the term of five years,--"pretending that he
had received frequent remonstrances from the said agent concerning the
heavy losses and inconveniences to which he was _subjected_ by the
indefinite terms of his agency," notwithstanding it appeared by evidence
produced at the board, that, on a supply of about 37,000_l._, he had
already drawn a commission of 22,000_l._ and upwards. That the said
Warren Hastings pledged himself, that, _if required by the Court of
Directors, the profits arising from the agency should be paid into the
Company's treasury, and appropriated as the Court should direct_. That
the Court of Directors, as soon as they were advised of the first
appointment of the said agency, declared that they considered the
commission of twenty per cent as an ample compensation to the agent, and
did positively order, that, according to the engagement of the said
Warren Hastings, "the commission paid or to be paid to the said agent
should be reduced to twenty pounds per cent." That the said John Belli
did positively refuse to refund any part of the profits he had received,
or to submit to a diminution of those which he was still to receive; and
that the said Warren Hastings has never made good his own voluntary and
solemn engagement to the Court of Directors hereinabove mentioned: and
as his failure to perform the said engagement is a breach of faith to
the Company, so his performance of such engagement, if he had performed
it, and even his offering to pledge himself for the agent, in the first
instance, ought to be taken as presumptive evidence of a connection
between the said Warren Hastings and the said agent, his private
secretary, which ought not to exist between a Governor acting in behalf
of the Company and a contractor making terms with such Governor for the
execution of a public service.
That, before the expiration of the contract hereinbefore mentioned for
supplying the army with draught and carriage bullocks, granted by the
said Warren Hastings to Ernest Alexander Johnson for three years, the
said Warren Hastings did propose and carry it in Council, that a new
contract should be made on a new plan, and that an offer thereof should
be made to Richard Johnson, brother and executor of the said contractor,
without advertising for proposals, for the term of _five years_; that
this offer was _voluntarily accepted_ by the said Richard Johnson, who
at the same time desired and obtained that the new contracts should be
made out in the name of Charles Croftes, the Company's accountant and
sub-treasurer at Fort William; that the said Charles Croftes offered the
said Richard Johnson as one of his securities for the performance of
the said contract, who was accepted as such by the said Warren Hastings;
and that, at the request of the said contractor, the contract for
victualling the Europeans serving at the Presidency was added to and
united with that for furnishing bullocks, and fixed for the same period.
That this extension of the periods of the said contracts was not
compensated by a diminution in the charge to be incurred by the Company
on that account, as it ought to have been, but, on the contrary, the
charge was immoderately increased by the new contracts, insomuch that it
was proved by statements and computations produced at the board, that
the increase on the victualling contract would in five years amount to
40,000_l._, and that the increase on the bullock contract in the same
period would amount to above 400,000_l._ That, when this and many other
weighty objections against the terms of the said contracts were urged in
Council to the said Warren Hastings, he declared that _he should deliver
a reply thereto_; but it does not appear that he did ever deliver such
reply, or ever enter into a justification of any part of his conduct in
this transaction.--That the act of Parliament of 1773, by which the
first Governor-General and Council were appointed, did expressly limit
the duration of their office to the term of five years, which expired in
October, 1779, and that the several contracts hereinbefore mentioned
were granted in September, 1779, and were made to continue _five_ years
after the expiration of the government by which they were granted. That
by this anticipation the discretion and judgment of the succeeding
government respecting the subject-matter of such contracts was taken
away, and any correction or improvement therein rendered impracticable.
That the said Warren Hastings might have been justified by the rules and
practice or by the necessity of the public service in binding the
government by engagements to endure one year after the expiration of his
own office; but on no principles could he be justified in extending such
engagements beyond the term of one year, much less on the principles he
has avowed, namely, "that it was only an act of common justice in him to
secure _every man connected with him_, as far as he legally could, from
the apprehension of future oppression." That the oppression to which
such apprehension, if real, must allude, could only consist in and arise
out of the obedience which he feared a future government might pay to
the orders of the Court of Directors, by making all contracts _annual_,
and advertising for proposals publicly and indifferently from all
persons whatever, by which it might happen that such beneficial
contracts would not be constantly held by men _connected with him_, the
said Warren Hastings. That this declaration, made by the said Warren
Hastings, combined with all the circumstances belonging to these
transactions, leaves no room to doubt, that, in disobeying the Company's
orders, and betraying the trust reposed in him as guardian of the
Company's property, his object was to purchase the attachment of a
number of individuals, and to form a party capable of supporting and
protecting him in return.
That, with the same view, and on the same principles, it appears that
excessive salaries and emoluments, at the East India Company's charge
and expense, have been lavished by the said Warren Hastings to sundry
individuals, contrary to the general principles of his duty, and in
direct contradiction to the positive orders of the Court of Directors:
particularly, that, whereas by a resolution of the Court of Proprietors
of the East India Company, and by an instruction of the Court of
Directors, it was provided and expressly ordered that there should be
paid to the late Sir John Clavering "the sum of six thousand pounds
sterling per annum in full for his services as commander-in-chief, in
lieu of travelling charges and of all other advantages and emoluments
whatever," and whereas the Court of Directors positively ordered that
the late "Sir Eyre Coote should receive the _same_ pay as
commander-in-chief of their forces in India as was received by
Lieutenant-General Sir John Clavering," the said Warren Hastings,
nevertheless, within a very short time after Sir Eyre Coote's arrival in
Bengal, did propose and carry it in Council, that a new establishment
should be created for Sir Eyre Coote, by which an increase of expense
would be incurred by the India Company to the amount of eighteen
thousand pounds a year and upwards, exclusive of and in addition to his
salary of ten thousand pounds a year, provided for him by act of
Parliament as a member of the Supreme Council, and exclusive of and in
addition to his salary of six thousand pounds a year as
commander-in-chief, appointed for him by the Company, and expressly
fixed to that amount.
That the disobedience and breach of trust of which the said Warren
Hastings was guilty in this transaction is highly aggravated by the
following circumstances connected with it. That from the death of Sir
John Clavering to the arrival of Sir Eyre Coote in Bengal the
provisional command of the army had devolved to and been vested in
Brigadier-General Giles Stibbert, the eldest officer on that
establishment. That in this capacity, and, as the said Warren Hastings
has declared, "standing no way distinguished from the other officers in
the army, but by his accidental succession to the first place on the
list," he, the said Giles Stibbert, had, by the recommendation and
procurement of the said Warren Hastings, received and enjoyed a salary,
and other allowances, to the amount of 13,854_l._ 12_s._ per annum. That
Sir Eyre Coote, soon after his arrival, represented to the board that a
considerable part of those allowances, amounting to 8,220_l._ 10_s._ per
annum, ought to devolve to himself, as commander-in-chief of the
Company's forces in India, and, stating that the said Giles Stibbert
could no longer be considered as commander-in-chief under the Presidency
of Fort William, made a formal demand of the same. That the said Warren
Hastings, instead of reducing the allowances of the said Giles Stibbert
to the establishment at which they stood during General Clavering's
command, and for the continuance of which after Sir Eyre Coote's arrival
there could be no pretence, continued the allowances of 13,854_l._
12_s._ per annum to the said Giles Stibbert, and at the same time, in
order to appease and satisfy the demand of the said Sir Eyre Coote, did
create for him that new establishment, hereinbefore specified, of
eighteen thousand pounds per annum,--insomuch that, instead of the
allowance of _six thousand pounds a year, in lieu of travelling charges,
and of all emoluments and allowances whatsoever_, to which the pay and
allowances of commander-in-chief were expressly limited by the united
act of the legislative and executive powers of the Company, the annual
charge to be borne by the Company on that account was increased by the
said Warren Hastings to the enormous sum of thirty-eight thousand two
hundred and seventeen pounds ten shillings sterling.
That on the 1st of November, 1779, the said Warren Hastings did move and
carry it in Council, "that the Resident at the Vizier's court should be
furnished with an account of all the extra allowances and charges of the
commander-in-chief when in the field, with orders to add the same to the
debit of the Vizier's account, as a part of his general subsidy,--the
charge to commence from the day on which the general shall pass the
Caramnassa, and to continue till his return to the same line." That this
additional expense imposed by the said Warren Hastings on the Vizier was
unjust in itself, and a breach of treaty with that prince: the specific
amount of the subsidy to be paid by him having been fixed by a treaty,
to which no addition could justly be made, but at the previous
requisition of the Vizier. That the Court of Directors, in their letter
of the 18th of October, 1780, did condemn and prohibit the continuation
of the allowances above mentioned to Sir Eyre Coote in the following
words: "These allowances appear to us in a light so very extraordinary,
and so repugnant to the spirit of a resolution of the General Court of
Proprietors respecting the allowance made to General Clavering, that we
positively direct that they be discontinued immediately, and no part
thereof paid after the receipt of this letter." That on the 27th of
April, 1781, the Governor-General and Council, in obedience to the
orders of the Directors, did signify the same to the Commissary-General,
as an instruction to him that the extraordinary allowances to Sir Eyre
Coote _should be discontinued, and no part thereof paid after that
day_. That it appears, nevertheless, that the said extra allowances
(amounting to above twenty thousand pounds sterling a year) were
continued to be charged to the Vizier, and paid to Sir Eyre Coote, in
defiance of the orders of the Court of Directors, in defiance of the
consequent resolution of the Governor-General and Council, and in
contradiction to the terms of the original motion made by the said
Warren Hastings for adding those allowances to the debit of the Vizier,
viz., "that they should continue till Sir Eyre Coote's return to the
Caramnassa." That Sir Eyre Coote arrived at Calcutta about the end of
August, 1780, and must have crossed the Caramnassa, in his return from
Oude, some weeks before, when the charge on the Vizier, if at any time
proper, ought to have ceased. That it appears that the said allowances
were continued to be charged against the Vizier and paid to Sir Eyre
Coote for three years after, even while he was serving in the Carnatic,
and that this was done by the sole authority and private command of the
said Warren Hastings.
That the East India Company having thought proper to create the office
of Advocate-General in Bengal, and to appoint Sir John Day to that
office, it was resolved by a General Court of Proprietors that a salary
of three thousand pounds a year should be allowed to the said Sir John
Day, _in full consideration of all demands and allowances whatsoever for
his services to the Company at the Presidency of Fort William_. That the
said Warren Hastings, nevertheless, shortly after Sir John Day's arrival
in Bengal, did increase the said Sir John Day's salary and allowances to
six thousand pounds a year, in direct disobedience of the resolution of
the Court of Proprietors, and of the order of the Court of Directors.
That the Directors, as soon as they were informed of this proceeding,
declared, "that they held _themselves_ bound by the resolution of the
General Court, and that they could not allow it to be disregarded by the
Company's servants in India," and ordered that the increased allowances
should be forthwith discontinued. That the said Warren Hastings, after
having first thought it necessary, in obedience to the orders of the
Court of Directors, to stop the extraordinary allowance which he had
granted to Sir John Day, did afterwards resolve that the allowance which
had been struck off should be _repaid_ to him, upon his signing an
obligation to refund the amount which he might receive, in case the
Directors should confirm their former orders, already twice given. That
in this transaction the said Warren Hastings trifled with the authority
of the Company, eluded the repeated orders of the Directors, and exposed
the Company to the risk and uncertainty of recovering, at a distant
period, and perhaps by a process of law, a sum of money which they had
positively ordered him not to pay.
That in the latter part of the year 1776, by the death of Colonel
Monson, the whole power of the government of Fort William devolved to
the Governor and one member of the Council; and that from that time the
Governor-General and Council have generally consisted of an even number
of persons, in consequence of which the casting voice of the said Warren
Hastings has usually prevailed in the decision of all questions. That
about the end of the year 1776 the whole civil establishment of the said
government did not exceed 205,399_l._ per annum; that in the year 1783
the said civil establishment had been increased to the enormous annual
sum of 927,945_l._ That such increase in the civil establishment could
not have taken place, if the said Warren Hastings, who was at the head
of the government, with the power annexed to the casting voice, had not
actively promoted the said increase, which he had power to prevent, and
which it was his duty to have prevented. That by such immoderate waste
of the property of his employers, and by such scandalous breach of his
fidelity to them, it was the intention of the said Warren Hastings to
gain and secure the attachment and support of a multitude of
individuals, by whose united interest, influence, and intrigues he hoped
to be protected against any future inquiry into his conduct. That it was
of itself highly criminal in the said Warren Hastings to have so wasted
the property of the East India Company, and that the purpose to be
obtained by such waste was a great aggravation of that crime.
That among the various instances of profusion by which the civil
establishment of Fort William was increased to the enormous annual sum
hereinbefore mentioned, it appears that a Salt Office was created, of
six commissioners, whose annual emoluments were as follows, viz.:--
President, or Comptroller, per annum L18,480
1st member 13,100
2d do 11,480
3d do 13,183
4th do 6,257
5th do 10,307
------
L72,807
That a Board of Revenue was created by the said Warren Hastings,
consisting of five commissioners, whose annual emoluments were as
follows, viz.:--
1st member, per annum L10,950
2d do 9,100
3d do 9,100
4th do 9,100
5th do 9,100
------
L47,350
That David Anderson, Esquire, first member of the said board, did not
execute the duties, though he received the emoluments of the said
office: having acted, for the greatest part of the time, as ambassador
to Mahdajee Sindia, with a further salary of 4,280_l._ a year, making in
all 15,230_l._ a year. That the said Warren Hastings did create an
office of Agent-Victualler to the garrison of Fort William, whose
profits, on an average of three years, were 15,970_l._ per annum. That
this agency was held by the Postmaster-General, who in that capacity
received 2,200_l._ a year from the Company, and who was actually no
higher than a writer in the service. That the person who held these
lucrative offices, viz., John Belli, was private secretary to the said
Warren Hastings.
That the said Warren Hastings created a nominal office of Resident at
Goa, where the Company never had a Resident, nor business of any kind to
transact, and gave the said nominal office to a person who was not a
covenanted servant of the Company, with an allowance of 4,280_l._ a
year.
That these instances are proofs of a criminal profusion and high breach
of trust to the India Company in the said Warren Hastings, under whose
government, and by means of whose special power, derived from the effect
of his casting voice, all the said waste and profusion did take place.
That at the end of the year 1780, when, as the Court of Directors
affirm, _the Company were in the utmost distress for money, and almost
every department in arrear_, and when it appears that there was a great
scarcity and urgent want of grain at Fort St. George, the said Warren
Hastings did accept of a proposal made to him by James Peter Auriol,
then Secretary to the Council, to supply the Presidency of Fort St.
George with rice and other articles, and did appoint the said Auriol to
be the agent for supplying _all the other_ Presidencies with those
articles; that the said Warren Hastings declared that the intention of
the appointment "was most likely to be fulfilled by a liberal
consideration of it," and therefore allowed the said Auriol a commission
of fifteen per cent on the whole of his disbursements, thereby rendering
it the direct interest of the said Auriol to make his disbursements as
great as possible; that the chance of capture by the enemy, or danger of
the sea, was to be at the risk of the India Company, and not of the said
Auriol; that the said Warren Hastings declared personally to the said
Auriol, "that this post was intended as a reward for his long and
faithful services." That the President and Council of Bombay did
remonstrate against what they called _the enormous amount of the
charges_ of the rice with which they wore supplied, which they state to
be nine rupees a bag at Calcutta, when they themselves could have
contracted for its delivery at Bombay, free of all risk and charges, at
five rupees and three sixteenths per bag; and that even at Madras, where
the distress and demand was greatest, the supplies of grain by private
traders, charged to the Company, were nineteen per cent cheaper than
that supplied by the said Auriol, exclusive of the risk of the sea and
of capture by the enemy. That it is stated by the Court of Directors,
that the agent's commission on a supply of _a single year_ (the said
commission being not only charged on the prime cost of the rice, but
also on the freight and all other charges) would amount to pounds
sterling 26,873, and by the said Auriol himself is admitted to amount to
18,292_l._ That William Larkins, the Accountant-General at Port William,
having been ordered to examine the accounts of the said agent, did
report to the Governor-General and Council, that he found them to be
_correct in the additions and calculations_; and that then the said
Larkins adds the following declaration: "The agent _being upon honor_
with respect to the sums charged in his accounts for the cost of the
articles supplied, I did not think myself authorized to require _any
voucher_ of the sums charged for the demurrage of sloops, either as to
the time of detention or the rate of the charge, or of those for the
articles lost in going down the river; and on that ground I thought
myself equally bound to admit the sums acknowledged as received for the
sales of goods returned, without requiring vouchers of the rates at
which they were sold." That in this transaction the said Warren Hastings
has been guilty of a high breach of trust and duty, in the unnecessary
expenditure of the Company's money, and in subjecting the Company to a
profusion of expense, at all times wholly unjustifiable, but
particularly at the time when that expense was incurred. That the said
Warren Hastings was guilty of breach of orders, as well as breach of
trust, in not advertising generally for proposals; in not _contracting_
indifferently for the supplies with such merchants as might offer to
furnish them on the lowest terms; in giving an enormous commission to an
agent, and that commission not confined to the prime cost of the
articles, but to be computed on the whole of his charges; in accepting
of the _honor_ of the said agent as a sufficient voucher for the cost of
the articles supplied, and for all charges whatever on which his
commission was to be computed; and finally, in giving a lucrative agency
for the supply of a distressed and starving province as a reward to a
Secretary of State, whose labors in that capacity ought to have been
rewarded by an avowed public salary, and not otherwise. That, after the
first year of the said agency was expired, the said Warren Hastings did
agree, that, for the future, the commission to be drawn by the said
agent should be reduced to five per cent, which the Governor-General and
Council then declared to be _the customary, amount drawn by merchants_;
but that even in this reduction of the commission the said Warren
Hastings was guilty of a deception, and did not in fact reduce the
commission from fifteen to five per cent, having immediately after
resolved that he, the agent, should be allowed the current interest of
Calcutta upon all his drafts on the Treasury from the day of their
dates, until they should be completely liquidated; that the legal
interest of money in Bengal is twelve per cent per annum, and the
current interest from eight to ten per cent.
VIII.--PRESENTS.
That, before the appointment of the Governor-General and Council of Fort
William by act of Parliament, the allowances made by the East India
Company to the Presidents of that government were abundantly sufficient;
and that the said Presidents in general, and the said Warren Hastings
particularly, was restrained by a specific covenant and indenture, which
he entered into with the Company, from accepting any gifts, rewards, or
gratuities whatsoever, on any account or pretence whatsoever. That in
the Regulating Act passed in the year 1773, which appointed the said
Warren Hastings, Esquire, Governor-General of Fort William in Bengal, a
salary of twenty-five thousand pounds a year was established for him, to
which the Court of Directors added, "that he should enjoy their
principal houses, with the plate and furniture, both in town and
country, _rent-free_." That the same law which created the office and
provided the salary of the said Warren Hastings did expressly, and in
the clearest and most comprehensive terms that could be devised,
prohibit him from receiving any present, gift, or donation, in any
manner or on any account whatsoever; and that the said Warren Hastings
perfectly understood the meaning, and acknowledged the binding force of
this prohibition, before he accepted of the office to which it was
annexed: he knew, and had declared, that _the prohibition was positive
and decisive; that it admitted neither of refinement or misconstruction;
and that in his opinion an opposition would be to incur the penalty_.
That, notwithstanding the covenants and engagements above mentioned, it
appears in the recorded proceedings of the Governor-General and Council
of Fort William, that sundry charges have been brought against the said
Warren Hastings for gifts or presents corruptly taken by him before the
promulgation of the act of 1773 in India, and that these charges were
produced at the Council Board in the presence of the said Warren
Hastings. That, in March, 1775, the late Rajah Nundcomar, a native
Hindoo, of the highest caste in his religion, and of the highest rank in
society, by the offices which he had held under the country government,
did lay before the Council an account of various sums of money paid by
him to the said Warren Hastings, amounting to forty thousand pounds and
upwards, for offices and employments corruptly disposed of by the said
Warren Hastings, and did offer and engage to prove and establish the
same by sufficient evidence. That this account is stated with a minute
particularity and precision; the date of each payment, down to that of
small sums, is specified; the various coins in which such payments were
severally made are distinguished; and the different persons through
whose hands the money passed into those of the said Warren Hastings are
named. That such particularity on the face of such a charge, supposing
it false, is favorable to the party wrongfully accused, and exposes the
accuser to an instant and easy detection: for, though, as the said
Warren Hastings himself has observed on another occasion, "papers may be
forged, and evidences may appear in numbers to attest them, yet it must
always be an _easy_ matter to detect the falsity of any forged paper
produced by examining the witnesses separately, and subjecting them to a
subsequent cross-examination, in which case, if false, they will not be
able to persevere in one regular, consistent story "; whereas, if no
advantage be taken of such particularity in the charge to detect the
falsehood thereof, and if no attempt to disprove it, and no defence
whatever be made, a presumption justly and reasonably arises in favor of
the truth of such charge. That the said Warren Hastings, instead of
offering anything in his defence, declared that _he would not suffer
Nundcomar to appear before the board at his accuser_; that he attempted
to indict his said accuser for a conspiracy, in which he failed; and
that the said Rajah Nundcomar was soon after, and while his charge
against the said Warren Hastings was depending before the Council,
indicted upon an English penal statute, which does not extend even to
Scotland,[1] before the Supreme Court of Judicature, for an offence said
to have been committed several years before, and not capital by the laws
of India, and was condemned and executed. That the evidence of this man,
not having been encountered at the time when it might and ought to have
been by the said Warren Hastings, remains justly in force against him,
and is not abated by the capital punishment of the said Nundcomar, but
rather confirmed by the time and circumstances in which the accuser of
the said Warren Hastings suffered death. That one of the offices for
which a part of the money above mentioned is stated to have been paid to
the said Warren Hastings was given by him to Munny Begum, the widow of
the late Mir Jaffier, Nabob of Bengal, whose son, by another woman,
holds that title at present. That the said Warren Hastings had been
instructed by the Court of Directors of the East India Company to
appoint "_a minister_ to transact the political affairs of the
government, and to select for that purpose some person well qualified
for the affairs of government, to be the minister and guardian of the
Nabob's minority." That for these offices, and for the execution of the
several duties belonging to them, the said Warren Hastings selected and
appointed the said Munny Begum, a woman evidently unqualified for and
incapable of such offices, and restrained from acting in such capacities
by her necessary seclusion from the world and retirement in a seraglio.
That, a considerable deficiency or embezzlement appearing in this
woman's account of the young Nabob's stipend, she voluntarily declared,
by a writing under her seal, that she had given fifteen thousand pounds
to the said Warren Hastings for an entertainment,--which declaration
corresponds with and confirms that part of the charge produced by Rajah
Nundcomar to which it relates. That neither this nor any other part of
the said charge has been at any time directly denied or disputed by the
said Warren Hastings, though made to his face, and though he was
repeatedly accused by his colleagues, who were appointed by Parliament
at the same time with himself, of peculation of every sort. That,
instead of promoting a strict inquiry into his conduct for the clearance
of his innocence and honor, he did repeatedly endeavor to elude and
stifle all inquiry by attempting to dissolve the meetings of the Council
at which such charges were produced, and by other means, and has not
since taken any steps to disprove or refute the same. That the said
Warren Hastings, so long ago as September, 1775, assured the Court of
Directors, "that it was his fixed determination most fully and
liberally to explain every circumstance of his conduct on the points on
which he had been injuriously arraigned, and to afford them the clearest
conviction of his own integrity, and of the propriety of his motives for
declining a present defence of it"; and having never since given to the
Court of Directors any explanation whatever, much less the full and
liberal explanation he had promised so repeatedly, has thereby abandoned
even that late and protracted defence which he himself must have thought
necessary to be made at some time or other, and which he would be
thought to have deferred to a period more suitable and convenient than
that in which the facts were recent, and the impression of these and
other charges of the same nature against him was fresh and unimpaired in
the minds of men.
That on the 30th of March, 1775, a member of the Council produced and
laid before the board a petition from Mir Zein Abul Deen, (formerly
farmer of a district, and who had been in creditable stations,) setting
forth, that Khan Jehan Khan, then Phousdar of Hoogly, had obtained that
office from the said Warren Hastings, with a salary of seventy-two
thousand sicca rupees a year, and that the said _Phousdar had given a
receipt of bribe to the patron of the city_, meaning Warren Hastings, to
pay him annually thirty-six thousand rupees a year, and also to his
banian, Cantoo Baboo, four thousand rupees a year, out of the salary
above mentioned. That by the thirty-fifth article of the instructions
given to the Governor-General and Council, they are directed
"immediately to cause the strictest inquiry to be made into all
oppressions which might have been committed either against the natives
or Europeans, and into all abuses that might have prevailed in the
collection of the revenues, or any part of the civil government of the
Presidency, and to communicate to the Directors all information which
they might be able to obtain relative thereto, or to any dissipation or
embezzlement of the Company's money." That the above petition and
instruction having been read in Council, it was moved that the
petitioner should be ordered to attend the next day to make good his
charge. That the said Warren Hastings declared, "that it appeared to him
to be the purpose of the majority to make him the sole object of their
personal attacks; that they had taken their line, and might pursue it;
that he should have other remarks to make upon this transaction, but, as
they would be equally applicable _to many others_ which in the course of
this business were likely to be brought before the board, he should say
no more on the subject";--and he objected to the motion. That by the
preceding declaration the said Warren Hastings did admit that many other
charges were likely to be brought against him, and that such charges
would be of a similar nature to the first, viz., a corrupt bargaining
for the disposal of a great office, since he declared that his remarks
on that transaction would be equally applicable to the rest; and that,
by objecting to the motion for the personal attendance of the accuser,
he resisted and disobeyed the Company's instructions, and did, as far as
depended on his power, endeavor to obstruct and prevent all inquiry into
the charge. That in so doing he failed in his duty to the Company, he
disobeyed their express orders, and did leave the charge against himself
without a reply, and even without a denial, and with that unavoidable
presumption against his innocence which lies against every person
accused who not only refuses to plead, but, as far as his vote goes,
endeavors to prevent an examination of the charge, and to stifle all
inquiry into the truth of it. That, the motion having been nevertheless
carried, the said Warren Hastings did, on the day following, declare,
"that he could not sit to be confronted with such accusers, nor suffer a
judicial inquiry into his conduct at the board of which he was
president, and declared the meeting of the board dissolved." That the
board continued to sit and examine witnesses, servants of the Phousdar,
on oath and written evidence, being letters under the hand and seal of
the Phousdar, all directly tending to prove the charge: viz., that, out
of the salary of seventy-two thousand rupees a year paid by the Company,
the said Phousdar received but thirty-two thousand, and that the
remainder was received by the said Warren Hastings and his banian. That
the Phousdar, though repeatedly ordered to attend the board, did, under
various pretences, decline attending, until the 19th of May, when, the
letters stated be his, that is, under his hand and seal, being shown to
him, it was proposed by a member of the board that he should be asked
whether he had any objection to swear to the truth of such answers as he
might make to the questions proposed by the board; that the said Warren
Hastings objected to his being put to his oath; that the question was
nevertheless put to him, in consequence of a resolution of the board;
that he first declined to swear, under pretence _that it was a matter of
serious consequence to his character to take an oath_, and, when it was
finally left to his option, he declared, "Mean people might swear, but
that his character would not allow him,--that he could not swear, and
had rather subject himself to a loss." That the evidence in support of
the charge, being on oath, was in this manner left uncontradicted. That
it was admitted by the said Warren Hastings, that neither Mussulmen or
Hindoos are forbidden by the precepts of their religion to swear; that
it is not true, as the said Warren Hastings asserted, that it was
repugnant to the _manners_ either of Hindoos or Mussulmen; and that, if,
under such pretences, the natives were to be exempted from taking an
oath, when examined by the Governor and Council, all the inquiries
pointed out to them by the Company's instructions might stop or be
defeated. That no valid reason was or could be assigned why the said
Phousdar should not be examined on oath; that the charge was not against
himself; and that, if any questions had been put to him, tending to make
him accuse himself, he might have declined to answer them. That, if he
could have safely sworn to the innocence of the said Warren Hastings,
from whom he received his employment, he was bound in gratitude as well
as justice to the said Warren Hastings to have consented to be examined
on oath; that, not having done so, and having been supported and abetted
in his refusal by the said Warren Hastings himself, whose character and
honor, were immediately at stake, the whole of the evidence for the
truth of the charge remains unanswered, and in full force against the
said Warren Hastings, who on this occasion recurred to the declaration
he had before made to the Directors, viz., "that he would most fully and
liberally explain every circumstance of his conduct," but has never
since that time given the Directors any explanation whatsoever of his
said conduct. And finally, that, when the Court of Directors, in
January, 1776, referred the question (concerning the legality of the
power assumed and repeatedly exercised by the said Warren Hastings, of
dissolving the Council at his pleasure) to the late Charles Sayer, then
standing counsel of the East India Company, the said Charles Sayer
declared his opinion in favor of the power, but concerning the use and
exercise of it in the cases stated did declare his opinion in the
following words: "I believe he, Warren Hastings, is the first governor
that ever dissolved a council inquiring into his behavior, when he was
innocent." Before he could summon three councils, and dissolve them, he
had time fully to consider what would be the result of such conduct, _to
convince everybody beyond a doubt of his conscious guilt_.--That, by a
resolution of a majority of the Council, constituting a lawful act of
the Governor-General and Council, the said Khan Jehan Khan was dismissed
from the office of Phousdar of Hoogly for a contempt of the authority of
the board; that, within a few weeks after the death of the late Colonel
Monson, the number of the Council being then even, and all questions
being then determined by the Governor-General's casting voice, the said
Warren Hastings did move and carry it in Council, that the said Khan
Jehan Khan should be restored to his office; and that restoration, not
having been preceded, accompanied, or followed by any explanation or
defence whatsoever, or even by a denial of the specific and
circumstantial charge of collusion with the said Khan Jehan Khan, has
confirmed the truth of the said charge.
That, besides the sums charged to have been paid to the said Warren
Hastings by the said Nundcomar and Munny Begum and Khan Jehan Khan, and
besides the sum of one hundred and ten thousand pounds already mentioned
to have been accepted without hesitation by him, as a present on the
part of the Nabob of Oude and that of his ministers, the circumstances
of which have been particularly reported to the House of Commons, it
appears by the confession of the said Warren Hastings, that he has at
different times since the promulgation of the act of 1773, received
various other sums, contrary to the express prohibition of the said act,
and his own declared sense of the evident intent and obligation
thereof.--That in the month of June, 1780, the said Warren Hastings made
to the Council what he called "a very unusual tender, by offering to
exonerate the Company from the expense of a particular measure, and to
_take it upon himself_; declaring that he had already deposited two lacs
of rupees [or twenty-three thousand pounds] in the hands of the
Company's sub-treasurer for that service." That in a subsequent letter,
dated the 29th of November, 1780, he informed the Court of Directors,
that "this money, by whatever means it came into their possession, _was
not his own_"; but he did not then, nor has he at any time since, made
known to the Court of Directors from whom or on what account he received
that money, as it was his duty to have done in the first instance, and
notwithstanding the said Directors signified to him their expectation
that he should communicate to them "immediate information of the channel
by which this money came into his possession, with a complete
illustration of the cause or causes of so extraordinary an event." But,
from evidence examined in England, it has been discovered that this
money was received by the said Warren Hastings from Cheyt Sing, the
Rajah of Benares, who was soon after dispossessed of all his property
and driven from his country and government by the said Warren Hastings.
That, notwithstanding the declaration made by the said Warren Hastings,
that he had actually deposited the sum above mentioned in the hands of
the Company's sub-treasurer for their service, it does not appear that
"any entry whatsoever of that or any other payment by the
Governor-General was made in the Treasury accounts at or about the
time," nor is there any trace in the Company's books of its being
actually paid into their treasury. It appears, then, by the confession
of the said Warren Hastings, that this money was received by him; but it
does not appear that he has converted it to the property and use of the
Company.
That in a letter from the said Warren Hastings to the said Court of
Directors, dated the 22d of May, 1782, but not dispatched, as it might
and ought to have been, at that time, but detained and kept back by the
said Warren Hastings till the 16th of December following, he has
confessed the receipt of various other sums, amounting (with that which
he accepted from the Nabob of Oude) to nearly two hundred thousand
pounds, which sums he affirmed had been converted to the Company's
property through his means, but without discovering from whom or on what
account he received the same. That, instead of converting this money to
the Company's property, as he affirmed he had done, it appears that he
had lent the greater part of it to the Company upon bonds bearing
interest, which bonds were demanded and received by him, and, for aught
that yet appears, have never been given up or cancelled. That for
another considerable part of the above-mentioned sum he has taken credit
to himself, as for a deposit of his own property, and therefore
demandable by him out of the Company's treasury at his discretion. That
all sums so lent or deposited are not alienated from the person who
lends or deposits the same; consequently, that the declaration made by
the said Warren Hastings, that he had converted the whole of these sums
to the Company's property, was not true. Nor would such a transfer, if
it had really been made, have justified the said Warren Hastings in
originally receiving the money, which, being in the first instance
contrary to law, could not be rendered legal by any subsequent
disposition or application thereof; much less would it have justified
the said Warren Hastings in delaying to make a discovery of these
transactions to the Court of Directors until he had heard of the
inquiries then begun and proceeding in Parliament, in finally making a
discovery, such as it is, in terms the most intricate, obscure, and
contradictory. That, instead of that full and clear explanation of his
conduct which the Court of Directors demanded, and which the said Warren
Hastings was bound to give them, he has contented himself with telling
the said Directors, that, "if this matter was to be exposed to the view
of the public, his reasons for acting as he had done might furnish a
variety of conjectures to which it would be of little use to reply; that
he either chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by
receiving bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied
design which his memory could at that distance of time verify; and that
he _could_ have concealed them from their eye and that of the public
forever." That the discovery, as far as it goes, establishes the guilt
of the said Warren Hastings in taking money against law, but does not
warrant a conclusion that he has discovered _all_ that he may have
taken; that, on the contrary, such discovery, not being made in proper
time, and when made being imperfect, perplexed, and wholly
unsatisfactory, leads to a just and reasonable presumption that other
facts of the same nature have been concealed, since those which he has
confessed might have been forever, and that this partial confession was
either extorted from the said Warren Hastings by the dread of detection,
or made with a view of removing suspicion, and preventing any further
inquiry into his conduct.
That the said Warren Hastings, in a letter to the Court of Directors
dated 21st of February, 1784, has confessed his having _privately
received_ another sum of money, the amount of which he has not declared,
but which, from the application he says he has made of it, could not be
less than thirty-four thousand pounds sterling. That he has not informed
the Directors from whom he received this money, at what time, nor on
what account; but, on the contrary, has attempted to justify the receipt
of it, which was illegal, by the application of it, which was
unauthorized and unwarrantable, and which, if admitted as a reason for
receiving money _privately_, would constitute a precedent of the most
dangerous nature to the Company's service. That, in attempting to
justify the receipt and application of the said money, he has endeavored
to establish principles of conduct in a Governor which tend to subvert
all order and regularity in the conduct of public business, to
encourage and facilitate fraud and corruption in all offices of
pecuniary trust, and to defeat all inquiry into the misconduct of any
person in whom pecuniary trust is reposed.--That the said Warren
Hastings, in his letter above mentioned, has made a declaration to the
Court of Directors in the following terms: "Having had occasion to
disburse from my own cash many sums, which, though required to enable me
to execute the duties of my station, I have hitherto omitted to enter in
my public accounts, and my own fortune being unequal to so heavy a
charge, I have resolved to reimburse myself in a mode the most suitable
to the situation of your affairs, by charging the same in my Durbar
accounts of the present year, and crediting them by a sum _privately