XXII. 1784. tally destitute of judgment, and even of princi- BOOK ple; who, actuated by pride, spleen, and ambition, affected to assume the elevated character of a CICERO dragging a delinquent of the first magnitude-a VERRES—to public justice: while Mr. Hastings, on the other hand, was regarded as a man deserving highly of his country, and who had from secret and sinister motives become the unfortunate object of an unjust and iniquitous persecution. Early in July, the minister, Mr. Pitt, acquainted the house with the arrival of sir Elijah Impey, chief-judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Bengal, who had been recalled by the king, in conformity to an address of that house. Mr. Burke upon this remarked, that the resolutions upon the subject were originally moved and seconded by sir Adam Ferguson and general Smith, who were not members of the present parliament. The charge against the delinquent in question having already received the sanction of that house, it might be proper to proceed against him by impeachment. For his own part, however, he totally declined taking the lead in this business. What hope could he, a solitary and unassisted individual, entertain of success, when the nobleman now presiding in the house of peers had expressly declared, in relation to the Reports in which the proceedings originated, that he XXII. 1784. BOOK regarded them no more than the romance of Robinson Crusoe? He therefore earnestly recommended it to the chancellor of the exchequer, as the chief conductor and representative of the executive government, to enforce the resolutions of that house relating to sir Elijah Impey. But Mr. Pitt totally, and in the most unequivocal terms, declined any concern in the affair. This was not the only indication of a fixed determination in the present ministry to discountenance all judicial investigation of the antecedent transactions in India. On the 28th of July, Mr. Burke moved, That the house should resolve itself into a committee, to enquire into the facts stated in the different Reports relative to India. He asserted, that his character was at stake. If, as had been suggested, the Reports were mere fables, they were indeed calumnies of the most bold and unprincipled nature, and he himself was an infamous calumniator. The two sets of Reports originating from the different committees acknowledged as their parents Mr. Dundas and himself. The right honourable gentleman had indeed seen the drawn sycmitar lifted up to divide and destroy his offspring without discovering any symptom of emotion. But the spectacle was too horid for his feelings. He wished to intercept the arm of the executioner, and to receive the bloody and fla cr Adsum qui BOOK gitious stroke in his own person: Disappointed in this attempt, Mr. Burke two days afterwards brought forward a series of resolutions, intended as a foundation for an enquiry into the conduct of Mr. Hastings. On this Mr. Pitt rose, and asked, "How that house, as a house of parliament, knew as a fact the transactions on which Mr. Burke grounded his motions? If the motions passed, from what office were the papers expected to proceed? To relieve the house from these embarrassments, he said, he should move the order of the day." This second interruption was more than the patience of Mr. Burke could endure. He affirmed the insensibility of government to the foul enormities lately perpetrated, and still perpetrating, by our countrymen in the East, to be truly shocking. He deprecated the day that the knowledge of them had come to his mind. The miserable objects it exhibited, nations extirpated, provinces desolated, cities and countries overwhelmed in one mass of destruction, constantly dwelt on his imagination. The cries of the native Indians were never out of his ears; an impression of horror had seized on his mind, which deprived him of sleep, and night and day preyed upon his peace. The XXII. 1784. XXII 1784, BOOK reality of the facts stated in the Reports had been impeached. Why then would not the men who denied them stand forward and support their allegations? Oh! what, said this impassioned orator, would I not give to find the scenes of horror there described nothing more than a fiction! To me it would be a discovery more precious and grateful than the discovery of a new world. He declared, that he wished it for the honour of humanity, from sympathy to millions of suffering and helpless individuals, from an anxious desire to retrieve the honour of the house, and of the country at large, from infamy and execration. He conjured Mr. Pitt to reflect with seriousness on this business. The voice of India cried aloud for justice. He was at a loss, he said, how to account for the callous insensibility of the minister, at a time of life when all the generous feelings of our nature are most lively and susceptible :-and proceeding in reflections very pointed and personal, he was loudly called to order; and still persevering in his exclamations and proaches, was at length compelled to sit down, amidst the universal clamor and tumult of the house. Bill for the prevention gling. On the dismission of this unwelcome business, the attention of the house was immediately transferred to a bill introduced by the minister for the more effectual prevention of the practice of smug XXII. 1784. gling, which had of late years arisen to a most BOOK alarming height. This bill contained various prudential, but somewhat severe, regulations. The distance from shore, at which seizures should in future be deemed lawful, was extended, and the constructing of vessels of a certain form and dimension peculiarly calculated for contraband purposes prohibited. But by far the most extraordinary part of the present plan was the reduction of the duties paid by the East-India Company on the importation of TEA, which was affirmed to be the grand medium of the smuggling traffic; and the consequent imposition of a new duty on windows, already most grievously burdened, to the amount of the deficiency, estimated at no less than six hundred thousand pounds per annum. This was styled by the minister a Com- Commutamutation Tax ; and the equity of it was defended on the general and vague idea, that, teas being an article of universal consumption, the weight of the tax would be compensated by a proportional abatement in the purchase of the commodity. Nothing however could be more fallacious than this statement, nor perhaps any impost more oppressive in its practical operation. It is obvious, that in large towns and cities, ground for the purpose of building being very valuable, houses are erected on a comparatively confined scale, and the number of windows is very moderate. But in small, tion Act. |