Complete Works of Edmund Burke

by Edmund Burke

  XXIII. That, in conformity to the said peremptory orders, a party of British and other troops, with the Nabob in the ostensible, and the British Resident in the real command, were drawn towards the city of Fyzabad, in the castle of which city the mother and grandmother of the Nabob had their residence; and after expending two days in negotiation, (the particulars of which do not appear,) the Resident not receiving the satisfaction he looked for, the town was first stormed, and afterwards the castle; and little or no resistance being made, and no blood being shed on either side, the British troops occupied all the outer inclosure of the palace of one of the princesses, and blocked up the other.

  XXIV. That this violent assault, and forcible occupation of their houses, and the further extremities they had to apprehend, did not prevail on the female parents of the Nabob to consent to any submission, until the Resident sent in unto them a letter from the said Warren Hastings, (no copy of which appears,) declaring himself no longer bound by the guaranty, and containing such other matter as tended to remove all their hopes, which seemed to be centred in British faith.

  XXV. That the chief officers of their household, who were their treasurers and confidential agents, the eunuchs Jewar Ali Khân and Behar Ali Khân, persons of great eminence, rank, and distinction, who had been in high trust and favor with the late Nabob, were ignominiously put into confinement under an inferior officer, in order to extort the discovery of the treasures and effects committed to their care and fidelity. And the said Middleton did soon after, that is to say, on the 12th of January, 1782, deliver them over for the same purpose into the custody of Captain Neal Stuart, commanding the eighth regiment, by his order given in the following words: “To be kept in close and secure confinement, admitting of no intercourse with them, excepting by their four menial servants, who are authorized to attend them until further orders. You will allow them to have any necessary and convenience which may be consistent with a strict guard over them.”

  XXVI. That, in consequence of these severities upon herself, and on those whom she most regarded and trusted, the mother of the said Nabob did at length consent to the delivering up of her treasures, and the same were paid to the Resident, to the amount of the bond given by the Nabob to the Company for his balance of the year 1779-80; and the said treasure “was taken from the most secret recesses in the houses of the two eunuchs.”

  XXVII. That the Nabob continuing still under the pressure of a further pretended debt to the Company for his balance of the year 1780-81, the Resident, not satisfied with the seizure of the estates and treasures of his parents aforesaid, although he, the said Resident, did confess that the princess mother “had declared, with apparent truth, that she had delivered up the whole of the property in her hands, excepting goods which from the experience which he, the Resident, had of the small produce of the sales of a former payment made by her in that mode he did refuse, and that in his opinion it certainly would have amounted to little or nothing,” did proceed to extort another great sum of money, that is to say, the sum of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling, on account of the last pretended balance aforesaid: in order, therefore, to compel the said ministers and treasurers either to distress their principals by extorting whatever valuable substance might by any possibility remain concealed, or to furnish the said sum from their own estates or from their credit with their friends, did order their imprisonment to be aggravated with circumstances of great cruelty, giving an order to Lieutenant Francis Rutledge, dated 20th January, 1782, in the following words.

  XXVIII. “SIR, — When this note is delivered to you by Hoolas Roy, I have to desire that you order the two prisoners to be put in irons, keeping them from all food, &c., agreeable to my instructions of yesterday.

  (Signed) “NATHL MIDDLETON.”

  XXIX. That by the said unjust and rigorous proceeding the said eunuchs were compelled to give their engagement for the payment of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling aforesaid, to be completed within the period of one month; but after they had entered into the said compulsory engagement, they were still kept in close imprisonment, and the mother and grandmother of the Nabob were themselves held under a strict guard, — although, at the same time, the confiscated estates were actually in the Company’s possession, and found to exceed the amount of what they were rated at in the general list of confiscated estates, and although the Assistant Resident, Johnson, did confess, “that the object of distressing the Bhow Begum was merely to obtain a ready-money instead of a dilatory payment, and that this ready-money payment, if not paid, was recoverable in the course of a few months upon the jaghires in his possession, and that therefore it was not worth proceeding to any extremities, beyond the one described,” (namely, the confinement of the princesses, and the imprisonment and fettering of their ministers,) “upon so respectable a family.”

  XXX. That, after the surrender of the treasure, and the passing the bonds and obligations given as aforesaid, the Resident having been strictly ordered by the said Warren Hastings not to make any settlement whatsoever with the said women of high rank, the Nabob was induced to leave the city of Fyzabad without taking leave of his mother, or showing her any mark of duty or civility. And on the same day the Resident left the city aforesaid; and after his return to Lucknow, in order to pacify the said Hastings, who appeared to resent that the Nabob was not urged to greater degrees of rigor than those hitherto used towards his mother, he, the said Resident, did, in his letter of the 6th February, give him an assurance in the following words:— “I shall, as you direct, use my influence to dissuade his Excellency from concluding any settlement until I have your further commands.”

  XXXI. That the payment of the bond last extorted from the eunuchs was soon after commenced, and the grandmother, as well as the mother, were now compelled to deliver what they declared was the extent of the whole of both their possessions, including down to their table utensils; which, as the Resident admitted, “they had been and were still delivering, and that no proof had yet been obtained of their having more.”

  XXXII. That bullion, jewels, and goods, to the amount of five hundred thousand pounds and upwards, were actually received by the Resident for the use of the Company before the 23d of February, 1782; and there remained on the said extorted bond no more than about twenty-five thousand pounds, according to the statement of the eunuchs, and not above fifty thousand according to that made by the Resident.

  XXXIII. That, in this advanced state of the delivery of the extorted treasure, the ministers of the women aforesaid of the reigning family did apply to Captain Leonard Jaques, under whose custody they were confined, to be informed of the deficiency with which they stood charged, that they might endeavor, with the assistance of their friends, to provide for the same, and praying that they might through his mediation be freed from the hardships they suffered under their confinement: to which application they received an insolent answer from the said Richard Johnson, dated February 27th, 1782, declaring that part of what he had received in payment was in jewels and bullion, and that more than a month, the time fixed for the final payment, would elapse before he could dispose of the same, — insisting upon a ready-money payment, and assuring them “that the day on which their agreement expired he should be indispensably obliged to recommence severities upon them, until the last farthing was fully paid.” And in order to add to their terrors and hardships, as well as to find some pretext for the further cruel and inhuman acts intended, an apparently groundless and injurious charge was suggested to the imprisoned ministers aforesaid in the following words. “You may also mention to them, that I have reason to suspect that the commotions raised by Bulbudder have not been without their suggestion and abetment, which, if proved upon them, in addition to the probable breach of their agreement, will make their situation very desperate.”

  XXXIV. That on the receipt of the said letter, that is, on the 2d March, the ministers aforesaid did aver, that they were not able to obtain cash, in lieu of the jewels and other effe
cts, but that, if the goods were sold, and they released from their confinement, and permitted (as they have before requested) to go abroad among their friends, they could soon make good the deficiency; and they did absolutely deny “that they had any hand in the commotions raised by Bulbudder, or any kind of correspondence with him or his adherents.”

  XXXV. That the prisoners aforesaid did shortly after, that is to say, on the 13th March, a third time renew their application to Nathaniel Middleton, Esquire, the Resident, and did request that the jewels remaining in his, the said Resident’s, hands, towards the payment of the balance remaining, “might be valued by four or five eminent merchants, Mussulmen and Hindoos, upon oath,” and that, if any balance should afterwards appear, they would upon their release get their friends to advance the same; and they did again represent the hardship of their imprisonment, and pray for relief; and did again assert that the imputations thrown upon them by the said Richard Johnson were false and groundless,— “that they had no kind of intercourse, either directly or indirectly, with the authors of the commotions alluded to, and that they did stake their lives upon the smallest proof thereof being brought.”

  XXXVI. That, instead of their receiving any answer to any of the aforesaid reasonable propositions, concerning either the account stated, or the crimes imputed to them, or any relief from the hardships they suffered, he, the Resident, Middleton, did, on the 18th of the said month, give to the officer who had supplicated in favor of the said prisoners an order in which he declared himself “under the disagreeable necessity of recurring to severities to enforce the said payment, and that this is therefore to desire that you immediately cause them to be put in irons, and keep them so until I shall arrive at Fyzabad to take further measures as may be necessary”: which order being received at Fyzabad the day after it was given, the said eunuchs were a second time thrown into irons. And it appears that (probably in resentment for the humane representations of the said Captain Jaques) the Resident did refuse to pay for the fetters, and other contingent charges of the imprisonment of the said ministers of the Nabob’s mother, when at the same time very liberal contingent allowances were made to other officers; and the said Jaques did strongly remonstrate against the same as follows. “You have also ordered me to put the prisoners in irons: this I have done; yet, as I have no business to purchase fetters, or supply them any other way, it is but reasonable that you should order me to be reimbursed. And why should I add anything more? A late commander at this place, I am told, draws near as many thousands monthly contingencies as my trifling letter for hundreds. However, if you cannot get my bill paid, be so obliging as to return it, and give me an opportunity of declaring to the world that I believe I am the first officer in the Company’s service who has suffered in his property by an independent command.”

  XXXVI. That, in about two months after the said prisoners had continued in irons in the manner aforesaid, the officer on guard, in a letter of the 18th May, did represent to the Resident as follows. “The prisoners, Behar and Jewar Ali Khân, who seem to be very sickly, have requested their irons might be taken off for a few days, that they might take medicine, and walk about the garden of the place where they are confined. Now, as I am sure they will be equally secure without their irons as with them, I think it my duty to inform you of this request: I desire to know your pleasure concerning it.” To which letter the said officer did receive a direct refusal, dated 22d May, 1782, in the following words. “I am sorry it is not in my power to comply with your proposal of easing the prisoners for a few days of their fetters. Much as my humanity may be touched by their sufferings, I should think it inexpedient to afford them any alleviation while they persist in a breach of their contract with me: and, indeed, no indulgence can be shown them without the authority of the Nabob, who, instead of consenting to moderate the rigors of their situation, would be most willing to multiply them”: — endeavoring to join the Nabob, whom he well knew to be reluctant in the whole proceeding, as a party in the cruelties by which, through the medium of her servants, it was intended to coerce his mother.

  XXXVIII. That the said Resident, in a few days after, that is to say, on the 1st June, 1782, in a letter to Major Gilpin, in command at Fyzabad, did order the account, as by himself stated, to be read to the prisoners, and, without taking any notice of their proposal concerning the valuation of the effects, or their denial of the offences imputed to them, to demand a positive answer relative to the payment, and, “upon receiving from them a negative or unsatisfactory reply, to inform them, that, all further negotiation being at an end, they must prepare for their removal to Lucknow, where they would be called upon to answer not only their recent breach of faith and solemn engagement, but also to atone for other heavy offences, the punishment of which, as had frequently been signified to them, it was in their power to have mitigated by a proper acquittal of themselves in this transaction.” By which insinuations concerning the pretended offences of the said unhappy persons, and the manner by which they were to atone for the same, and by their never having been specifically and directly made, it doth appear that the said crimes and offences were charged for the purpose of extorting money, and not upon principles or for the ends of justice.

  XXXIX. That, after some ineffectual negotiations to make the prisoners pay the money, which it does not appear to have been in their power to pay, they were again threatened by the Resident, in a letter to Major Gilpin, dated 9th June, 1782, in the following terms. “I wish you to explain once more to the prisoners the imprudence and folly of their conduct in forcing me to a measure which must be attended with consequences so very serious to them, and that, when once they are removed to Lucknow, it will not be in my power to show them mercy, or to stand between them and the vengeance of the Nabob. Advise them to reflect seriously upon the unhappy situation in which they will be involved in one case, and the relief it will be in my power to procure them in the other; and let them make their option.”

  XL. That he, the said Resident, did also, at the same time, receive a letter from the princess mother, which letter does not appear, but to which only the following insolent return was made, — that is to say: “The letter from the Bhow Begum is no ways satisfactory, and I cannot think of returning an answer to it. Indeed, all correspondence between the Begum and me has long been stopped; and I request you will be pleased to inform her that I by no means wish to resume it, or to maintain any friendly intercourse with her, until she has made good my claim upon her for the balance due.”

  XLI. That, in consequence of these threats, and to prevent a separation of the ministers from their mistresses, several plans for the payment of the balance were offered, both by the mother of the Nabob and the prisoners, to which no other objection appears to have been made than the length of time required by the parties to discharge the comparatively small remainder of the extorted bond: the officer on command declaring, that, conformable to his instructions, he could not receive the same.

  XLII. That the prisoners were actually removed from the city of their residence to the city of Lucknow, where they arrived on the 24th of June, 1782, and were on the next day threatened with severities, “to make them discover where the balance might be procurable.” And on the 28th, it should seem, that the severities for the purpose aforesaid were inflicted, at least upon one of them; for the Assistant Resident, Johnson, did on that day write to Captain Waugh, the officer commanding the guard, the letter following, full of disgrace to the honor, justice, and humanity of the British nation.

  XLIII. “SIR, — The Nabob having determined to inflict corporal punishment upon the prisoners under your guard, this is to desire that his officers, when they shall come, may have free access to the prisoners, and be permitted to do with them as they shall see proper, only taking care that they leave them always under your charge.”

  XLIV. That the said Richard Johnson did, further to terrify the prisoners, and to extort by all ways the remainder of the said unjust, oppressive, and rapacious demand, threaten t
o remove them out of the Nabob’s dominions into the castle of Churnagur, in order forever to separate them from their principals, and deprive both of their reciprocal protection and services, — and did order a further guard to be put on the palace of the grandmother of the Nabob, an ally of the Company, and to prevent the entrance of the provisions to her, (which order relative to the guard only was executed,) and did use sundry unworthy and insulting menaces both with regard to herself and to her principal ministers.

  XLV. That a proposal was soon after made by the said princess and her daughter-in-law, praying that their ministers aforesaid should be returned to Fyzabad, and offering to raise a sum of money on that condition; as also that they would remove from one of their palaces, whilst the English were to be permitted to search the other. But the Assistant Resident, Johnson, did, instead of a compliance with the former of these propositions, send the following orders, dated 23d July, 1782, to the officer commanding the guard on the ministers aforesaid: “Some violent demands having been made for the release of the prisoners, it is necessary that every possible precaution be taken for their security; you will therefore be pleased to be very strict in guarding them; and I herewith send another pair of fetters to be added to those now upon the prisoners.” And in answer to the second proposition, the said Resident did reply in the following terms: “The proposal of evacuating one palace, that it may be searched, and then evacuating the next, upon the same principle, is apparently fair; but it is well known, in the first place, that such bricked-up or otherwise hidden treasure is not to be hit upon in a day without a guide. I have therefore informed the Nabob of this proposal, and, if the matter is to be reduced to a search, he will go himself, with such people as he may possess for information, together with the prisoners; and when in possession of the ground, by punishing the prisoners, or by such other means as he may find most effectual to forward a successful search upon the spot, he will avail himself of the proposal made by the Bhow Begum.”