Mr. Hastings asserts, that the resumption of the Jaghires was no injury to the Begums, for they had their revenue of them delivered regularly. — But that was not truth. — They never had an equivalent — they were referred for payment to a bankrupt, on the faith of a broken guarantee. There never was any information that could warrant the seizure of the Jaghires. It was not done with the consent of the Nabob, though he was forced by Mr. Middleton to give his nominal assent thereto; for Mr. Middleton had written to Mr. Hastings, that a fixed melancholy had seized the Nabob, on his being forced to plunder his mother. Mr. Middleton had written to Mr. Hastings for his orders, on the 1st of December, 1781, which arrived on the 6th, and on the 29th of the same month the whole was put in execution; but as they perfectly knew it was a matter that of course must make much noise, it was deemed necessary by Mr. Hastings and his party, to throw the whole of the odium on the Nabob, by insisting that the proposition came from him. — But the very letter in which it was asserted that, the Nabob had not only given his consent, but even proposed this detestable measure, could not be produced; nor any one paper, article or authentic evidence to that effect, notwithstanding the industry with which it had been reported.
The Nabob in his letter to Mr. Hastings, never gave the least hint, that either his mother or grandmother were in rebellion, or that they had shewn an inclination to assist or join with Cheyt Sing, or that they meant to extirpate the English, or dethrone him.
Mr. Sheridan proceeded to demonstrate, that the princesses were in every sense of the word, entitled to their Jaghires and possessions, as much as any lady in England to her dower, on the death of her Lord. That this opinion had not so much as been called in question, till the time that Mr. Hastings began to set his heart upon their treasures; — and that asserting the contrary, under the Mahomedan law, was neither founded in justice, reason, nor even that law, and this, Mr. Sheridan proved beyond the power of contradiction.
He then shewed, from a variety of statements from Mr. Hastings’s own papers, that the Nabob never entertained an idea that the possessions of his mother were his, during her life — on the contrary, that his father Sujah ul Dowlah, had left her in the tranquil possession of those estates and treasures, for the mere purpose of supporting her dignity in the stile becoming her rank and birth. — Mr. Sheridan observed, that when Asoph ul Dowla blamed his father for leaving so little wealth, he thought like an unwise prince — His father Sujah ul Dowla acted prudently, in leaving him with no temptation about him, to invite acts of violence from the rapacious.
He cloathed him with poverty as a shield, and armed him with necessity as a sword.
In consequence of his poverty and distresses, the Bhow Begum his mother it was true, made her son many presents, and even lent him money, for which he had given an equivalent; and once, on his representing his distressed situation, she had returned all his pledges and a very large sum of money, such as she thought would finally put an end to his distresses. The Nabob her son had given a receipt to that effect, which receipt was read by Mr. Sheridan, who strongly pointed out the obligation he was under to her. He then enlarged upon the character and estimation in which the Princesses were held, and in the most pathetic language, dwelt on the purity of their conduct, the reciprocal return of filial and parental affection.
When Mr. Middleton went to seize Fyzyabad, the eunuchs were taken prisoners, as was the Fouzder of Tanda; him however, it was not thought necessary to detain; he had not the key of the treasure; the eunuchs had that, and they of course were the principal objects. — It was asserted that the Nabob gave puerile excuses for not plundering his mother. — Reasons for not performing the worst of actions, the most unnatural crime, that of a child ruining his parent, was by a Christian Governor thought puerile. — Was it to be supposed that, two old, infirm women, whose whole dependence was on the British possession, one of whom had been a witness of the success of the British arms, for the British arms had deposed her husband, Sujah ul Dowlah, and British generosity had again placed him in his dominions, should wish to extirpate the English? — Saib Ally’s behaviour was passed over, as having done more good, by preserving a few prisoners, than he had done harm; Why was not the same favour shewn to the Begums? When the foot of the oppressor was taken off, the trodden on rose against the persecutor, as against another Sujah. What a miserable situation must the poor unfortunate wretches be in, to have those for their judges, who would benefit by their destruction!
When the Court of Directors sent to Mr. Hastings, to revise the charge against the Begums, and Mr. Stables moved that revision in council, he was over-ruled by Mr. Hastings, who said, that
the majesty of justice ought to be approached with solicitation, and that it would debase itself by the suggestion of wrongs, and the promise of redress.
— Conscious however of the enormity of his conduct, he apologizes to the Court of Directors, by stating, that it would be “a very severe task for a mother to impeach her son;” — so that according to his idea, it was no crime for a son to rob and plunder his parents, but it was a crime of a very deep dye, for an injured parent to complain of the outrage of her child.
He next proceeded to shew, that Mr. Hastings, and he alone, was the actor and perpetrator of those crimes. That he was regularly acquainted with all the enormities committed, there was the clearest proof. It was true that Middleton was rebuked for not being more exact. He did not, perhaps, descend to the detail; he did not give him an account of the number of groans, which were heaved, of the quantity of tears which were shed, of the weight of the fetters, or of the depth of the dungeons; but he communicated every step that he took to accomplish the base and unwarrantable end. He proved by his letters, dated in Jan. 1782, that he alone was responsible for the whole proceedings. Mr. Hastings well knew that, the jaghire and the treasure were the only means which the Begums were in possession of, to support the numerous family of the late Nabob, amounting to more than two thousand persons.
After having in the most pathetic and forcible manner given an affecting description of the distresses of these unfortunate princesses, he went farther into the exposure of the evidence; into a comparison of dates and the subsequent circumstances, in order to prove that, all the enormous consequences that followed from the resumption, in the captivity of the women and the imprisonment and cruelties practised upon their people, were solely to be ascribed and imputed to Mr. Hastings. He said that Mr. Hastings had once remarked,
that a mind touched with superstition might have contemplated the fate of the Rohillas with peculiar impressions.
But if indeed the mind of Mr. Hastings had been touched with superstition; if his fancy could suffer any disturbance, and even in vision, he could imagine that he beheld the great spirit of Sujah Dowlah looking down on the ruin he had wrought on his house — in that palace which Mr. Hastings had first wrested from his hand, and afterwards restored to him; — plundered by that very army, by which Sujah Dowlah had been able to vanquish the Mahrattas — seizing on the very plunder which he had ravaged from the Rohillas; — that MIDDLETON who had been engaged in managing the previous violations, most busy to perpetrate the last; that very HASTINGS, whom on his death-bed he had left the guardian of his wife and mother, and family; turning all those dear relatives, the objects of his solemn trust, forth to the merciless season, and to a more merciless soldiery! — A mind touched with superstition, must indeed have cherished such a contemplation with very peculiar impressions.
Mr. Hastings had endeavoured to throw a portion of the guilt upon the Council, although Mr. Wheeler had never taken any share, and Mr. M`Pherson was not arrived in India when the scene began. Mr. Sheridan remarked, that he had shrunk from the inquiry ordered by the Court of Directors under the new, and pompous doctrine, that the majesty of justice was to be approached with supplication, and was not to degrade itself, by hunting for crimes. If his picture of justice was right, then the Committees of this House, in the examination of Smith, were wrong — Mr. Dundas was wr
ong. — He hoped however, that Mr. Hastings would be found wrong.
I trust, said the eloquent Speaker, that this House will vindicate the insulted character of justice, — that they will demonstrate its true quality, essence, and purposes, — that they will evidence it to be, in the case of Mr. Hastings, active, inquisitive, and avenging.
Mr. Sheridan having in the course of his wonderful Speech taken a most comprehensive view of the business, and examined with the most elaborate research and scrutinizing attention, every circumstance with which it was connected; having urged every thing which he thought necessary to develope the iniquitous conduct of Mr. Hastings, to substantiate the charge, and to establish it by the incontrovertible evidence of an infinity of facts; he drew towards a conclusion, by stating a summary of the great points contained in it. He contended and maintained that it was evident the Begums had done nothing to merit such violence, that the pretence of their having been the fomenters of rebellion, with a view to exterminate the English from the province of Oude, was a mere pretence, wholly unfounded, and not supported by any evidence, and that such an idea had never been conceived, until Mr. Hastings concluded that to be the probable means, and a favourite resource for the obtainment of money, — a resource that he was determined, in defiance of reason, justice, and humanity, and at all events, to make certain of. Mr. Hastings had violated the solemn guarantee of the Company, and had broken their faith, pledged by treaty; he had throughout his conduct been guided by baseness, falsehood, and oppression; entering into treaties, and framing stipulations, which at the moment he was concluding and agreeing upon, he had no purpose of fulfilling. — Mr. Hastings had degraded and sunk the dignity and character of the highest and most honourable office, that of a Chief Justice, by making Sir Elijah Impey run about the country collecting affidavits. — He had, by paltry quibbles, and pitiful evasions, neglected to proceed upon the enquiry directed by the Board at the India-House; taking a mean advantage of the Directors orders, and had cloathed that evasion with a pompous parade of words, and a ridiculous display of nonsensical phrases on the majesty of Justice. — That through the whole of the transaction the conduct of the Governor-General had been marked with the most scandalous duplicity, the basest perfidy, the most unparalleled and grinding oppression, and the most insolent, wanton, and unmanly cruelty. — He had made a son plunder his mother and grand-mother, and reduced to distress two princesses of high rank; — he had sullied and disgraced the British name and character.
Mr. Hastings, he observed, was a man of wonderful prescience, for it was evident that he knew nothing of what would lend his conduct a colour of justification, till after it was over; but he foresaw that there would be proof of a rebellion, and, — strange to tell! — it turned out exactly as he predicted.
Mr. Sheridan then made a solemn appeal to the House, conveyed in such a sublime and astonishing stile of elegance, and worked up with such pathos and dignity, in such fascinating language, that the House was wrapped in mute attention: To keep way with him through such a rapid stream of eloquence, desires all power of retention: it was wholly impracticable to do more than watch the current as it flowed, and now and then casually to grasp some passing flowers, within our reach.
He stated to the House, that the matter of charge was no question of party. Factions and parties, he knew, existed in that house. The prerogative of the Crown found its advocates among the people’s representatives. The privileges of the people met with their opponents. Habits, connections, parties, all led to a diversity of opinions. The measures of every minister were supported by one body of men, and thwarted by another; but on great questions, they had, he was happy to remark, often distinguished themselves, by laying aside all petty party considerations, and acting with a firmness and decision that reflected honour upon their character. — When Inhumanity presented itself, when the majesty of Justice was to be supported, he trusted no division could be found among them. When the former became the object of their attention, they would sit upon it as their common enemy, as if the character of the land were involved in their zeal for its ruin, and they would leave it not, till it was completely overthrown. — He hoped they would now step forward, regardless of the minister, — regardless of the influence of the Crown, — and vote against the most enormous crimes that ever disgraced human nature. — On the present occasion, they were called upon to retrieve millions of their fellow creatures from a state of misery and oppression. It was true, they could not see the innumerable beings, whose wretchedness they would relieve; the multitudes of famished females had not reached the House, and terrified it into a contemplation of their miseries; but for that reason, the more magnanimous would their conduct be, the more glorious their determination to punish such delinquency. Was a British Parliament to wait for their bar to be surrounded with the screams of expiring children, and the shrieks of starving women, before they stooped to redress their grievances? — No — Let the world behold an example, that the Commons of Great-Britain will stretch the strong arm of justice across the habitable globe, to shew in glowing colours the greatness and power of a British Parliament, in reprobating injustice, in stigmatizing inhumanity, and in delivering over to condign punishment, those who used unlimited power, merely for the purposes of tyranny, oppression, rapacity, and perfidy. It was not given to that House, as it was to the officers who had the felicity to relieve, and the still greater transport of a susceptible mind, to perceive the ecstatic emotions of gratitude in the instant of deliverance. They could not behold the workings of the heart, the quivering lips, the trickling tears, the loud, though tremulous joys of the millions, whom their vote that night would snatch from the tyranny of corrupt power. But, though these circumstances were not perceptible to them, was not the true enjoyment of benevolence increased, by the blessing being conferred unseen: Would not the omnipotence of British justice, and a British Parliament be demonstrated, to the wonder of nations, by stretching its mighty arm across the Globe, and saving by its fiat millions from destruction! And would the blessings of the people, thus saved, diffuse in empty air! No! —
Heaven, says he, if I may dare to use the figure, — Heaven itself shall become the Agent to receive the blessings of their pious gratitude, and to waft them to your bosoms.
Mr. Sheridan returned his warmest thanks to the House for the indulgence he had experienced in a speech that carried him beyond the limits of his strength; but he trusted, that strength would soon be repaired, from the consideration of having endeavoured to discharge his duty in the support of untainted innocence.
He then concluded,
It is with confidence I now move Sir, that Warren Hastings be impeached.
The question was then read by the clerk to the following purpose:
That the Committee, upon hearing evidence, and considering the said charge, are of opinion, that there is sufficient ground to impeach Warren Hastings, Esq of High Crimes and Misdemeanours, upon the matter of the said charge,
Mr. Burgess spoke for nearly an hour in defence of Mr. Hastings, which defence he grounded on the 10th report, when
Sir William Dolben rose, and observed, that Mr. Sheridan having in his speech stated in so able a manner, such a variety of facts and arguments, as must have exhausted the spirits, as well as the attention of the Committee, he therefore recommended an adjournment.
Mr. Stanhope was of the same opinion, and was determined not to give his vote, till he had again collected his reason, and had given the subject a new and serious consideration.
Mr. Fox argued against the adjournment.
Major Scott rose, and accused Mr. Sheridan of having been guilty of most gross misrepresentations; that in referring to several parts of the correspondence relative to the Begums, he had omitted several parts of the letters, and offered to proceed to the proof, when
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in a very candid and liberal manner, passed many deserving and high encomiums on Mr. Sheridan’s speech, and was strenuous for the adjournment.
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p; Mr. Fox replied to Mr. Pitt, and in a speech of some length, still opposed any adjournment: — this brought up
Mr. Wilberforce, who, for similar reasons with Mr. Pitt, Sir William Dolben, and Mr. Stanhope, was anxious to adjourn.
Mr. Fox rose to explain, and amongst other things said, that an adjournment would certainly impress the public mind with a very unfavourable opinion of Mr. Hastings’s cause.
Mr. Sheridan said, that he should not again have troubled the Committee, had it not been to clear up a foul, and he must say, an unjust aspersion cast against him, of misrepresenting, or of not reading the evidence faithfully; he protested that he had not, to the best of his knowledge, omitted a single sentence that was material; and that his wish was, to state the whole faithfully; as to the adjournment, the Committee would see his reason for not saying any thing on the subject. Mr. Martin, Mr. Montague, and Mr. St. John, severally spoke, when
Mr. Sheridan rose a third time, and said, that if Gentlemen really meant to press it to a decision, he did not wish to take the sense of the House on the question of adjournment.
Sir William Dolben’s motion was then read, and passed without a division; and the Speaker having resumed the chair, the House adjourned at half past One.
THURSDAY the 8th.
The House having met, and resolved itself into a Committee, the subject was resumed. Mr. Pitt bore a conspicuous part in the debate. At the conclusion of his speech,
Mr. Sheridan rose, and said, that after the extraordinary indulgence which he had the honour to experience last night, he would now trespass but a few minutes on their time. He felt himself, however, called upon to congratulate the Right Hon. Gentleman, (Mr. Pitt,) on the very able, candid, and manly, manner in which he had delivered his sentiments on that occasion. He congratulated the House, he congratulated his country, that in the cause of humanity, they saw a Minister who was not to be biassed by any motives of political interest, who by his conduct on that day, had placed his character above the reach of suspicion. He was not so vain as to imagine, that any arguments he had advanced on the subject had made any impression on the Right Honourable Gentleman’s mind; if they had, it was more a tribute to the cause of truth and justice than a compliment to him.
Delphi Complete Works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan Page 74