subsisting between them and the rajah of Benares, and the manner in which the same had been fulfilled on the part of the rajah, did, in the fifth resolution, which was partly a resolution of opinion, declare as follows:-"That it appears to this "court, that the conduct of the governour-general "towards the rajah, whilst he was at Benares, was "improper; and that the imprisonment of his "person, thereby disgracing him in the eyes of his "subjects, and others, was unwarrantable and highly impolitick, and may tend to weaken the "confidence, which the native princes of India "ought to have in the justice and moderation of "the company's government." IV. That the said resolutions being transmitted to the said Warren Hastings, he the said Warren Hastings did write, and cause to be printed and published, a certain false, insolent, malicious, and seditious libel, purporting to be a letter from him, the said Warren Hastings, to the court of directors, dated Fort William, 20th March 1783, cal"culated [as the directors truly affirm] to bring "contempt, as well as an odium, on the court of "directors for their conduct on that occasion;" and the said libel had a direct tendency to excite a spirit of disobedience to the lawful government of this nation in India through all ranks of their service. V. 66 | "policy, I forbear to speak. Most happily the "wretch, whose hopes may be excited by the appearances in his favour is ill qualified to "avail himself of them, and the force which is "stationed in the province of Benares, is suffi"cient to suppress any symptoms of internal "se"dition; but it cannot fail to create distrust and "suspense in the minds both of the rulers and of the "people, and such a state is always productive of "disorder. But it is not in this partial considera"tion, that I dread the effects of your commands; "it is in your proclaimed indisposition against "the first executive member of your first govern"ment in India. I almost shudder at the reflec"tion of what might have happened, had these "denunciations against your own minister, in fa vour of a man universally considered in this part of the world as justly attainted for his "crimes, the murderer of your servants and sol"diers, and the rebel to your authority, arrived "two months earlier." VI. That the said Warren Hastings did also presume to censure and asperse the court of directors for the moderate terms, in which they had expressed their displeasure against him, as putting him under the necessity of stating in his defence a strong accusation against himself; and as implying in the said court a consciousness, that he was not guilty of the offences charged upon him, being, as he asserts, in the resolutions of the court of directors, "arraigned and prejudged of a vio"lation of national faith in acts of such com"plicated aggravation, that, if they were true, 66 no punishment SHORT OF DEATH could "atone for the injury, which the interest and cre"dit of the publick had sustained in them :" and he did therefore censure the said court for applying no stronger or more criminating epithets than those of "improper, unwarrantable, and highly impolitick," to an offence so by them charged, and by him described. And though it be true, that the expressions aforesaid are much too reserved for the purpose of duly characterizing the offences of the said Hastings, yet was it in him most indecent to libel the court of directors for the same; and his implication, from the tenderness of the epithets and descriptions aforesaid used towards him, was not only indecent, but ungrounded, malicious, and scandalous; he having himself highly, though truly, aggravated "the charge "of the injuries done by him to the rajah of Be That he, the said Warren Hastings, among other insolent and contumacious charges and aspersions on the court of directors, did address them in the printed letter aforesaid, as follows:-" I deny "that Rajah Cheit Sing was a native prince of In"dia. Cheit Sing is the son of a collector of the "revenue of that province, which his arts, and the "misfortunes of his master, enabled him to convert “to a permanent and hereditary possession. This man, whom you have thus ranked among the princes of India, will be astonished, when he "hears it, at an elevation so unlooked for; nor "less at the independent rights, which your com"mands have assigned him; rights which are so "foreign to his conceptions, that I doubt whether "he will know in what language to assert them; unless the example which you have thought it con"“sistent with justice, however opposite to policy, "to shew, of becoming his advocates against your own interests, should inspire any of your own "servants to be his advisers and instructors." And he did further, to bring into contempt the authority of the company, and to excite a resistance to their lawful orders, frame a supposition, that the court of directors had intended the restoration of the rajah of Benares; and on that ground did presume in the said libel to calumniate, in disrespectful and contumelious terms, the policy of the court of directors, as well as the person, whom he did conceive to be the object of their protection," as followeth :-" Of the consequences of such a nares," in order to bring the said directors into contempt and suspicion; the paragraphs in the said libel being as follow: "Here I must crave "leave to say, that the terms improper, unwar"rantable, and highly impolitick,' are much too gentle, as deductions from such premises; and as every reader of the latter will obviously feel, as he reads, the deductions, which inevitably belong to them, I will add, that the strict per"formance of solemn engagements on one part, 66 66 66 66 "followed by acts directly subversive of them, 66 VII. That the said Hastings, being well aware, that his own declarations did contain the clearest condemnation of his own conduct from his own pen, did, in the said libel, attempt to overturn, frustrate, and render of none effect, all the proofs to be given of prevarication, contradiction, and of opposition of action to principle, which can be used against men in publick trust, and did contend, that the same could not be used against him; and, as if false assertions could be justified by factious motives, he did endeavour to do away the authority of his own deliberate, recorded declarations, entered by him in writing on the councilbooks of the presidency; for, after asserting, but not attempting to prove, that his declarations were consistent with his conduct, he writes in the said libel as follows: for "were it otherwise, they were "not to be made the rules of my conduct; and "God forbid, that every expression dictated by "the impulse of present emergency, and unpre"meditatedly uttered in the heat of party conten"tion, should impose upon me the obligation of a fixed principle, and be applied to every varia"ble occasion.' 66 VIII. "the will of his principal? When the state of this "administration was such as seemed to admit of "the appointment of Mr. Bristow to the residency "of Lucknow without much diminution of my own influence, I gladly seized the occasion to shew my readiness to submit to your commands: I proposed his nomination; he was nominated and declared to be the agent of my own choice. "Even this effect of my caution is defeated by your absolute command for his re-appointment "independent of me, and with the supposition, "that I should be adverse to it.-I am now "wholly deprived of my official powers both in "the province of Oude, and in the zemindary of "Benares." IX. That, further to emancipate others and himself from due obedience to the court of directors, he did, in the libel aforesaid, enhance his services; which, without specification or proof, he did suppose in the said libel to be important and valuable, by representing them as done under their displeasure; and doth attribute his not having done more to their opposition, as followeth :-"It is now a complete period of eleven years since I "first received the first nominal charge of your "affairs; in the course of it I have invariably had "to contend, not with ordinary difficulties, but "such as most unnaturally arose from the opposition of those very powers, from which I primarily derived my authority, and which were required for the support of it. My exertions, though applied to an unvaried and consistent "line of action, have been occasional and desul"tory; yet I please myself with the hope, that "in the annals of your dominion, which shall be "written after the extinction of recent prejudices, "this term of its administration will appear not "the least conducive to the interests of the com 66 pany, nor the least reflective of the honour of "the British name; and allow me to suggest the "instructive reflection of what good might have "been done, and what evil prevented, had due "support been given to that administration, which "has performed such eminent and substantial "services without it." That the said Hastings, in order to draw the lawful dependence of the servants of the company from the court of directors to a factious dependence on himself, did, in the libel aforesaid, treat the acts and appointments of their undoubted authority, when exercised in opposition to his arbitrary And the said Hastings, further to render the will, as ruinous to their affairs, in the following authority of the said court perfectly contemptible, terms: It is as well known to the Indian world, doth, in a strain of exultation for his having escaped as to the court of English proprietors, that the out of a measure, in which by his guilt he had "first declaratory instruments of the dissolution involved the company in a ruinous war, and out "of my influence, in the year 1774, were Mr. of which it had escaped by a sacrifice of almost all "John Bristow and Mr. Francis Fowke. By the territories before acquired (from that enemy, your ancient and known constitution the gover- which he had made) either by war, or former nour has been ever held forth and understood treaties, and by the abandoning the company's "to possess the ostensible powers of government; allies to their mercy, attribute the said supposed "all the correspondence with foreign princes is services to his acting in such a manner as had on conducted in his name; and every person re- former occasions excited their displeasure, in the "sident with them for the management of your following words: political concerns is understood to be more espe- Pardon, honourable Sirs, this digressive exul"cially his representative, and of his choice-"tation; I cannot suppress the pride, which I feel "and such ought to be the rule; for how other- "in this successful achievement of a measure "wise can they trust an agent nominated against so fortunate for your interests, and the national 66 66 "honour; for that pride is the source of my zeal, | endeavour to make a reparation of honour to his so frequently exerted in your support, and never said colleagues, as if his expressions aforesaid had more happily than in those instances, in which arisen from animosity to them, as follows: "upon "I have departed from the prescribed and beaten a careful revisal of what I have written, I "path of action, and assumed a responsibility, "fear, that an expression, which I have used, re"which has too frequently drawn on me the most specting the probable conduct of the board, pointed effects of your displeasure. But however" in the event of orders being received for the I may yield to my private feelings in thus en- "restoration of Cheit Sing, may be construed as "larging on the subject, my motive in introducing" intimating a sense of dissatisfaction, applied to "it was immediately connected with its context, "transactions already past. It is not my inten"and was to contrast the actual state of your "tion to complain of any one.' "political affairs, derived from a happier influ"ence, with that, which might have attended an "earlier dissolution of it:" and he did value himself upon the patience and temper, with "which he had submitted to all the indignities, "which have been heaped upon him [meaning by "the said court of directors] in this long services and he did insolently attribute to an unusual strain of zeal for their service, that he "persevered "in the VIOLENT MAINTENANCE OF HIS "OFFICE." X. XI. That the said Hastings, in the acts of injury aforesaid to the rajah of Benares, did assume and arrogate to himself an illegal authority therein, and did maintain, that the acts done in consequence of that measure were not revocable by any subsequent authority, in the following words: if you should proceed to order the restoration "of Cheit Sing to the zemindary, from which, "by the powers, which I legally possessed, and "conceive myself legally bound to assert against 66 any subsequent authority to the contrary, de"rived from the same common source, he was dispossessed for crimes of the greatest enormity, "and your council shall resolve to execute the order, I will instantly give up my station and "the service." That in order further to excite the spirit of dis-" obedience in the company's servants to the lawful authority set over them, he the said Warren Hastings did treat contemptuously and ironically the supposed disposition of the company's servants to obey the orders of the court of directors, in the words following: "the recall of Mr. Markham, "who was known to be the publick agent of my own nomination at Benares, and the re-appoint"ment of Mr. Francis Fowke by your order, con"tained in the same letter, would place it [the "restoration of Cheit Sing] beyond a doubt. "This order has been obeyed; and whenever you shall be pleased to order the restoration of Cheit Sing, I will venture to promise the same ready and exact submission in the other "members of the council;" and he did, in the postscript of the said letter, and as on recollection, 66 66 XII. That the said Warren Hastings did attempt to justify his publication of the said libellous letter to and against the court of directors by asserting therein, that these resolutions [meaning the resolutions of the court of directors, relative to the rajah of Benares] "were either published, or in"tended for publication;" evidently proving, that he did take this unwarrantable course without any sufficient assurance, that the ground and motive by him assigned had any existence. XX. MAHRATTA WAR, AND PEACE. I. "sent and approbation of the governour-general " and council first had and obtained, except in THAT by an act passed in 1773 it was ex- "such cases of imminent necessity as would renpressly ordered and provided, " that it should not "der it dangerous to postpone such hostilities or "be lawful for any president and council at Ma- "treaties, until the orders from the governour"dras, Bombay, or Bencoolen, for the time being," general and council might arrive."-That ne"to make any orders for commencing hostilities, or declaring or making war, against any Indian princes or powers, or for negociating or concluding any treaty of peace, or other treaty, with any "such Indian princes or powers, without the con against the Mahratta government; did conclude a treaty with a certain person, a fugitive from that government, and proscribed by it, named Ragonaut Row, or Ragoba; and did, under various base and treacherous pretences, invade and conquer the island of Salsette, belonging to the Mahratta government. II. "to be an insuperable bar to the completion of "the treaty concluded with the Mahratta govern"ment; nor could any sincere cordiality and "good understanding be established with them, as long as he should appear to derive encouragement and support from the English." That Sir John Clavering died soon after, and that the late Edward Wheler, Esquire, succeeded to a seat in the supreme council. That on the 29th of January 1778, the governour-general and council received a letter from the presidency of Bombay, dated 12th December 1777, in which they de "ment to a party formed in Ragoba's favour, "and flattered themselves they should meet with "the hearty concurrence of the governour-ge"neral and council in the measures they might "be obliged to pursue in consequence.' That the party so described was said to consist of four principal persons in the Mahratta state, on whose part some overtures had been made to Mr. William Lewis, the resident of Bombay, at Poona, for the assistance of the company to bring Ragoba to Poona. That the said Warren Hastings, immediately on the receipt of the preceding advices, did propose and carry it in council, by means of his casting voice, and against the remonstrances, arguments, and solemn protest of two members of the supreme council, that the sanction of that government should be given to the plan, which the president and council of Bombay had agreed to form with the Mahratta government; and also, that a supply of money (to the amount of ten lacks of rupees) should be immediately granted to the president and council of Bombay for the support of their engagements above mentioned; and also that a military force should be sent to the presidency of Bombay. That in defence of these resolutions the said Warren Hastings did falsely pretend and affirm, "that the resolution of the presidency of That Warren Hastings, on the first advices received in Bengal of the above transactions, did condemn the same in the strongest terms; declar-clared," that they had agreed to give encourageing, that "the measures adopted by the presidency "of Bombay had a tendency to a very extensive "and indefinite scene of troubles; and that their "conduct was unseasonable, impolitick, unjust, and "unauthorized."And the governour-general and council, in order to put a stop to the said unjust hostilities, did appoint an ambassadour to the peshwa or chief of the Mahratta state, resident at Poona; and the said ambassadour did, after a long negociation, conclude a definitive treaty of peace with the said peshwa on terms highly honourable and beneficial to the East India company, who by the said treaty obtained from the Mahrattas a cession of considerable tracts of country, the Mahratta share of the city of Broach, twelve lacks of rupees for the expences of the said unjust war, and particularly the island of Salsette, of which the presidency of Bombay had possessed themselves by surprise and treachery; that in return for these extraordinary concessions, the articles principally insisted on by the Mahrattas, with a view to their own future tranquillity and internal quiet, were, that no assistance should be given to any subject or servant of the peshwa, that should cause disturbances or rebellion in the Mahratta dominions, and particularly that the English should not assist Ragonaut Row, to whom the Mahrattas agreed to allow five lacks of rupees a year, or a jaghire to that amount, and that he should reside at Benares; that nevertheless the presidency of Bombay did receive and keep Ragonaut Row at Bombay, did furnish him with a considerable establishment, and continue to carry on secret intrigues and negociations with him, thereby giving just ground of jealousy and distrust to the Mahratta state that the late Colonel John Upton, by whom the treaty of Poorunder was negociated and concluded, did declare to the governour-general and council," that while Rago"naut Row resides at Bombay in expectation of "being supported, the ministers can place no "confidence in the council there; which must now be productive of the greatest inconveniencies, and perhaps in the end of fatal conse"quences." That the said Warren Hastings, concurring with his council, which then consisted of Sir John Clavering, Richard Barwell, and Philip Francis, Esquires, did, on the 18th of August 1777, declare to the presidency of Bombay, that he could see no reason to doubt, that the presence of Ragoba at Bombay would continue 66 Bombay was formed on such a case of imminent "necessity, as would have rendered it dangerous "to postpone the execution of it until the orders "from the governour-general and council might "arrive; and that the said presidency of Bombay were warranted by the treaty of Poorunder to "join in a plan for conducting Ragonaut Row to "Poona on the application of the ruling part of "the Mahratta state;" whereas the main object of the said treaty on the part of the Mahrattas, and to obtain which they made many important concessions to the India company, was, that the English should withdraw their forces, and give no assistance to Ragoba, and that he should be excluded for ever from any share in their government, being a person universally held in abhorrence in the Mahratta empire; and if it had been true (instead of being, as it was, notoriously false) that the ruling part of the administration of the Mahratta state solicited the return of Ragonaut Row to Poona, his return in that case might have been effected by acts of their own, without the interposition of the English power, and without our interference in their affairs. That 66 66 66 28 May 1782. it was the special duty of the said Warren Hast- declare to the presidency of Bombay, "that it was ings, derived from a special trust reposed in him, "the opinion of the governour-general and and power committed to him by parliament, to "council, that no time ought to be lost in forming have restrained, as by law he had authority to "and carrying into execution such measures as do, the subordinate presidency, of Bombay from might most effectually tend to frustrate such entering into hostilities with the Mahrattas, or dangerous designs :"that the said Warren from making engagements, the manifest tendency Hastings therefore, instead of fixing his attention of which was to enter into those hostilities, and to the preservation of peace throughout India, as to have put a stop to them, if any such had been it was his duty to have done, did continue to abet, begun. That he was bound by the duty of his encourage, and support the dangerous projects of office to preserve the faith of the British govern- the presidency of Bombay, and did thereby maniment, pledged in the treaty of Poorunder, invio- fest a determined intention to disturb the peace of late and sacred, as well as by the special orders India, by the unfortunate success of which intenand instructions of the East India company to tion, and by the continued efforts of the said Hastfix his attention to the preservation of peace ings, the greater part of India has been for several throughout India; all which important duties the years involved in a bloody and calamitous war. That said Warren Hastings did wilfully violate, in both the court of directors and court of propriegiving the sanction of the governour-general and tors did specially instruct the said Warren Hastcouncil to the dangerous, faithless, and ill-con- ings, in all his measures, " to make the safety and certed projects of the president and council of prosperity of Bengal his principal object," and Bombay herein before mentioned, from which the did heavily censure the said Warren Hastings for subsequent Mahratta war, with all the expence, having employed their troops at a great distance distress, and disgraces, which have attended it, from Bengal in a war against the Rohillas, which took their commencement; and that the said the house of commons have pronounced to be Warren Hastings therefore is specially and prin- iniquitous, and did on that occasion cipally answerable for the said war, and for all expressly declare, "that they disap- 25 Dec. 1775. the consequences thereof. That in a letter dated proved of all such distant expeditions as might the 20th of January 1778, the president and" eventually carry their forces to any situation council of Bombay informed the governour- "too remote to admit of their speedy and safe general and council, that in consequence of later" return to the protection of their own provinces, intelligence received from Poona, they had immediately resolved, that nothing further could be done, unless Saccaram Baboo the principal in the late treaty (of Poorunder) joined in making a formal application to them. That no such application was ever made by that person. That the said Warren Hastings finding, that all this pretended ground for engaging in an invasion of the Mahratta government had totally failed, did then pretend to give credit to, and to be greatly alarmed by, the suggestions of the president and council of Bombay, that the Mahrattas were negociating with the French, and had agreed to give them the port of Choul, on the Malabar coast, and did affirm, that the French had obtained possession of that port; that all these suggestions and assertions were false; and if they had been true, would have furnished no just occasion for attacking either the Mahrattas or the French, with both of whom the British nation was then at peace-that the said Warren Hastings did then propose and carry the following resolution in council, against the protest of two members retrieving his affairs." That the said Hastings thereof, that, "for the purpose of granting you was then in possession of a letter from the court "(the presidency of Bombay) the most effectual of directors, dated the 4th of July 1777, containsupport in our power, we have resolved to as- ing a positive order to the presidency of Bombay, "semble a strong military force near Calpee, the in the following words: " though that treaty "commanding officer of which is to be ordered to" (meaning the treaty of Poorundur) is not, upon "march by the most practicable route, to Bombay, "the whole, so agreeable to us as we could wish, or to such other places as future occurrences, "still we are resolved strictly to adhere to it on our " and your directions to him, may render it ex- parts. You must therefore be particularly vigipedient." And with respect to the steps said to "lant, while Ragoba is with you, to prevent be taking by the French to obtain a settlement on "from forming any plan against what is called the the Malabar coast, the said Warren Hastings did "ministerial party at Poona; and we hereby posi 66 "in case of emergency." That the said Warren Hastings nevertheless ordered a detachment from the Bengal army to cross the Jumna, and to proceed across the Peninsula by a circuitous route through the Diamond country of Bundle Cund, and through the dominions of the rajah of Berar, situated in the centre of Hindostan, and did thereby strip the provinces subject to the government of Fort William of a considerable part of their established defence, and did thereby disobey the general instructions and positive orders of the court of directors, (given upon occasion of a crime of the same nature committed by the said Hastings,) and was guilty of an high crime and misde meanour. That the said Warren Hastings, having taken the measures herein before described for supporting those of the presidency of Bombay, did, on the 23d of March 1778, "invest the said presidency "with authority to form a new alliance with Ra"goba, and to engage with him in any scheme, "which they should deem expedient and safe for 66 him |
