BOOK beneficial operation of the Commutation Act, in XXII. 1786. consequence of which the Company's sales of tea had increased from six to fourteen millions of pounds, exclusive of other articles; and in proportion to an increase of trade, an increase of capital became indispensably requisite. And on this ground the bill passed with little difficulty. These measures were regarded with cold indifference; but the feelings of the nation were wrought up to an high pitch of solicitude and curiosity by the subsequent proceedings of parliament relative to India. Mr. HASTINGS, late governor of Bengal, arrived in England in the month of June 1785; and the season being then far advanced, Mr. Burke gave notice of his intention to move early in the next session for a parliamentary investigation into his conduct. On the first day of the meeting of parliament after the summer recess major Scott, who had upon all occasions distinguished himself as the friend and advocate of Mr. Hastings, remind ed Mr. Burke of the pledge he had made, and challenged him in pressing and peremptory terms to come to an immediate decision. Mr. Burke calmly replied, "that he should imitate the conduct of the duke of Parma, who came from the Low Countries to relieve the city of Paris, then besieged by king Henry IV. The king, impatient and full of ardor, urged the duke to instant battle; XXII. but that experienced and celebrated commander BOOK replied, that he had not travelled so far to learn 1786. from his enemy the time when it was most proper to engage." ings for cused by On the 17th of February 1786, however, Mr. Mr. HastBurke, in the spirit of ancient chivalry, threw mally acdown the gauntlet; and, desiring that the reso- Mr. Burke. lutions of May 28, 1782, might be read (resolutions moved by Mr. Dundas, as chairman of the Select Committee, declaratory of the culpability of Mr. Hastings, and the consequent necessity of his recall), declared his "deep regret, that the solemn and important business of that day had not been brought forward in the plenitude of weight and efficiency, by the original mover of the resolutions. now recited. Most feelingly did he lament, as the unwelcome consequence of a devolution caused partly by the natural demise of some, the political decease of others, and in particular cases a death to virtue and to principle, that he should now remain alone engaged in the attempt to preserve unsullied the honor and the consistency of that house, which had fixed upon Mr. Hastings as an object of their particular and formal accusation. Acting under their sanction, he asserted a claim to their protection. There were various modes of proceeding which might be adopted in this busi ness. The first of these was a direction to the attorney-general to prosecute. But not to insist BOOK XXII. 1786. upon the apparent disinclination of the present attorney-general (Mr. Arden) to exert his powers in this great and momentous cause, he did not conceive that a trial by jury was well calculated for the purpose of obtaining justice against so elevated an offender. In the court of King's Bench the dignity of such a trial would ill assort with causes of meum and tuum, actions of battery and assault, of trespass and trover, together with the innumerable tribe of subordinate misdemeanors. The second mode of prosecution was that by bill of pains and penalties. To this he had insuperable objections, as radically unjust, and as tarnishing in no slight degree the character of that house, the members of which would thus preposterously appear in the two-fold capacity of accusers and judges. The only alternative which remained was the antient and constitutional mode of proceeding by IMPEACHMENT: as a necessary preparatory to which, he concluded with moving for the papers necessary to substantiate the charge which he had now in immediate contemplation to bring forward against the late governor-general Hastings.” Mr. Dundas with his usual versatility affirmed, "that though he had thought it expedient in the year 1782 to recall Mr. Hastings from India, he now rejoiced that the resolutions moved by him had not taken effect. Since that period Mr. Hastings had rendered most essential services to XXIL 1786. the Company, and he should have extremely re- BOOK gretted to have been the means of depriving the Company of a servant so distinguished by his zeal and capacity. He had certainly moved a vote of censure on Mr. Hastings; but Mr. Hastings had since received the thanks of the Court of Direc tors, in which, had he been a director, he would most willingly have concurred, from a thorough conviction that the thanks were merited." accuser. Some difficulties having been suggested by Mr. Pitt, respecting the production of the papers called for, Mr. Burke declared in lofty terms this demur to be "an invasion of the prerogative of a public He had an unquestionable claim to all 'such documents, proofs, and papers, as he saw or esteemed to be necessary to support the charge which he undertook to advance. The downfall of the greatest empire in the world had originated in the mal-administration of its provinces. When Rome felt within herself the seeds of decline, and the inroads of corruption, a man of the first rank and highest connections in the state was brought to punishment. VERRES, the governor of Sicily, was united in affinity with all that was most splendid and most opulent in the seat of empire, with the Hortensii and the Metelli. But when CICERO undertook his accusation, the government itself. adopted his prosecution. No less than one hundred and fifty days were allowed for the collection BOOK of materials, and the justice of the Roman senate XXII. 1786, Mr. Hastings's pre opened to the accuser all the cabinets whence the granted. On the 4th of April, 1786, Mr. Burke solemnly rose to charge Warren Hastings, esq. late governor-general of Bengal, with high crimes and misdemeanors in the execution of his office, exhibiting at the same time nine distinct articles of accusation, which in a few weeks were increased to the num ber of twenty-two. On the 1st of May Mr. Hastings, at his own exmature and press desire, and by the indulgence of the house, arrogant defence. was heard at the bar of the house, in this early pe riod of the business, in his own defence: and at the farther request of the accused, the minutes of his defence were ordered to lie on the table. But the general opinion, faintly controverted even by the friends of Mr. Hastings, was, that the DEFENCE, thus precipitately and prematurely delivered, was of no service to his cause, and contributed in a very slight and inadequate degree to the vindication of his character. Though his assertions were bold, his arguments were feeble, and the language of this defence was beyond all example boastful and arrogant. He had even the weakness and presumption to call in question the AUTHORITY of the house to institute a judicial inquiry into his conduct. |