ble cause, and even with a declared ill opinion | of the morals of one of the party, such as was actually delivered in the said letter by him, the said Hastings, of Nundcomar, (and which, time has shewn, he might also on good ground have conceived of others,) was, in the circumstances of a criminal enquiry, a motive highly disgraceful to the honour of government, and destructive of impartial justice, by holding out the greatest of all possible temptation to false accusation, to corrupt and factious conspiracies, to perjury, and to every species of injustice and oppression. XIV. justice, and in consequence of letting the province of Bengal in farm by the said Warren Hastings, several dangerous and mischievous innovations were made by him, the said Warren Hastings, and the criminal justice of the country was almost wholly subverted, and great irregularities and disorders did actually ensue. XVII. That the council general, established by act of parliament in the year 1773, did restore the said Mahomed Reza Khân, with the consent and approbation of the nabob, (but under a protest from the said Warren Hastings,) to his liberty, and to That in consequence of the aforesaid motives, his offices, according to the spirit of the orders and others pretended, which were by no means a given by the court of directors as aforesaid; and sufficient justification to the said Warren Hastings, the court of directors did approve of the said he did appoint the woman aforesaid, called Munny appointment, and did assure the said Mahomed Begum, who had been of the lowest and most Reza Khân of their favour and protection, as long discreditable order in society, according to the ideas as his conduct should merit the same, in the prevalent in India, but from whom he received seve- following terms; as "the abilities of Mahomed ral sums of money, to be guardian to the nabob in "Reza Khân have been sufficiently manifested; as preference to his own mother, and to administer the "official experience qualifies him for so high a affairs of the government in the place of the said "station in a more eminent degree than any other Mahomed Reza Khân, the second Mussulman in "native with whom the company has been connectrank after the nabob, and the first in knowledge, "ed; and as no proofs of maleadministration have gravity, weight, and character, among the Mussul-" been established against him, either during the men of that province. And in order to try every method, and to take every chance for his destruction, the said Warren Hastings did maliciously and oppressively keep him under confinement, for a part of the time, without any enquiry, and afterwards, with a slow and dilatory trial, for two years together. XV. "strict investigation of his conduct, or since his "retirement, we cannot under all circumstances "but approve your recommendation of him to "the nabob to constitute him his naib. We are "well pleased, that he has received that appoint 66 ment, and authorize you to assure him of our "favour, so long as a firm attachment to the in"terest of the company, and a proper discharge "of the duties of his station, shall render him "worthy of our protection." And the said Mahomed Reza Khan did continue to execute the same without any complaint whatsoever of malversation or negligence, in any manner or degree, in his said office. XVIII. That notwithstanding a total revolution in the power, in part avowedly made for his destruction, the persons appointed for his trial did, on full enquiry, completely acquit the said Mahomed Reza Khân of the criminal charges against him, on account of which he had been so long persecuted and confined, and suffered much in mind, body, and fortune; and the court of directors, in That in March 1778 the said Warren Hastings, their letter of the 3d of March 1775, testify their under colour, that the nabob had completed his satisfaction in the conduct and result of the said twentieth year, and had desired to be placed in the enquiry, and did direct the restoration of the said entire and uncontrouled management of his own Mahomed Reza Khân to liberty, and to the offices, affairs, and that Mahomed Reza Khân should be which he had lately held, which comprehended the removed from his office, and that Munny Begum management of the nabob's household, and the his step-mother, the dancing-girl aforesaid, "should general superintendency of the justice of Bengal;" take on herself the management of the nizamut but according to the orders of the court of direc-"[the government and general superintendency of tors, his appointments were reduced to thirty thousand pounds a year, or thereabouts, of which he did make grievous complaint on account of the expences attendant on his station, and the heavy debts, which he had been obliged to contract during his unjust persecution and imprisonment aforesaid. XVI. That on the removal of the said Mahomed Reza Khân from the superintendency of the criminal 66 criminal justice] without the interference of any person whatsoever;" and, notwithstanding the contradictions in the pretended applications from the nabob, with whose incapacity for all affairs he was well acquainted, did, in defiance of the orders of the court of directors, and without regard to the infamy of an arrangement, made for the evident and declared purpose of delivering not only the family with the prince, but the government and justice of a great kingdom, into such insufficient, corrupt, and scandalous hands; and though he has "others with kindness, just as they think proper to "advise him: their view is, that, by compelling me to displeasure at most unworthy treatment, they may force me either to relinquish my station, or "to join with them, and act by their advice, and "appoint creatures of their recommendation to "the different offices, from which they might draw "profit to themselves." declared his opinion, " that our national character XIX. XXI. That, in a subsequent letter to the governour, the said superintendent of justice did inform him, the said Warren Hastings, of the audacious and corrupt manner, in which by violence, fraud, and forgery, the eunuchs of Munny Begum had abused the nabob's name, to deprive the judicial and executory officers of justice of the salaries, which they ought to have drawn from the company's treasury, in the following words:-"The begum's ministers, "before my arrival, with the advice of their coun"sellors, caused the nabob to sign a receipt, in consequence of which they received, at two dif"ferent times, near 50,000 rupees [£.5,000] in "the name of the officers of the adawlut, fous"dary, &c. from the company's circars; and having drawn up an account-current in the manner they wished, they had got the nabob to sign it, and sent it to me." And in the same letter he asserts, "that these people had the nabob entirely in their power." 66 66 XXII. That Mr. Francis and Mr. Wheler having moved, that the execution of the aforesaid arrangement, the whole expence of which, ordinary and extraordinary, was charged upon the company's treasury, and therefore could not be even colourably disposed" of at the pretended will of the said nabob, might be suspended until the pleasure of the court of directors thereon should be known; and the same being resolved agreeably to law by a majority of That the said Warren Hastings, upon this reprethe council then present, the said Hastings, urging sentation, did, notwithstanding his late pretended on violently the immediate execution of his corrupt opinion of the fitness and the right of the nabob to project, and having obtained, by the return of the sole administration of his own affairs, authoritaRichard Barwell, Esquire, a majority in council in tively forbid him from any interference therein, and his own casting vote, did rescind the aforesaid re-ordered, that the whole should be left to the magissolution, and did carry into immediate execution the aforesaid most unwarrantable, mischievous, and scandalous design. XX. trate aforesaid; to which the nabob did, notwithstanding his pretended independence, yield an immediate and unreserved submission; for the said Hastings's order being given on the first of September at Calcutta, he received an answer from Muxadavad on the third, in the following terms : "all concern with the affairs of the fousdary "and adawlut, leaving the entire management "in Judder ul Hock's hands." Which said circumstance, as well as many others, abundantly proves, that all the nabob's actions were in truth and fact entirely governed by the influence of the said Hastings; and that however the said Hastings may have publickly discouraged the corrupt transactions of the said court, yet he did secretly uphold the authority and influence of Munny Begum, who did entirely direct, with his knowledge and countenance, all the proceedings therein. For That the consequences, which might be expected" Agreeably to your pleasure I have relinquished from such a plan of administration, did almost instantly flow from it. For the person appointed to execute one of the offices, which had been filled by Mahomed Reza Khân, did soon find, that the eunuchs of Munny Begum began to employ their power with superiority and insolence in all the concerns of government, and the administration of justice, and did endeavour to dispose of the offices relative to the same for their corrupt purposes, and to rob the nabob's servants of their due allowances; and in his letter of the 1st September 1778, he sent a complaint to the board, stating," that certain "bad men had gained an ascendency over the "nabob's temper, by whose instigation he acts." And after complaining of the slights he received from the nabob, he adds, "thus they cause the "nabob to treat me, sometimes with indignity, at XXIII. That on the 13th of the same month of September he did receive a further complaint of the cor | another occasion he had requested him to permit to remain in the hands which then held them) into his own disposal; telling him, or rather the woman and eunuchs, who governed him, "that if "his Excellency has any plan for the manage"ment of the affairs in future, be pleased to com"municate it to me, and every attention shall be paid to give your Excellency satisfaction." By which means not only particular parts, as before, but the whole system of justice, was to be afloat, and to be subject to the purposes of the aforesaid corrupt cabal of women and eunuchs. XXV. That the court of directors, on receiving an account of the above arrangements, and being well apprized of the spirit, intention, and probable effect of the same, did, in a clear, firm, and decisive manner, express their condemnation of the measure, and their rejection and reprobation of all the pretended grounds and reasons, on which the same was supported; marking distinctly his prevarication and contradictions in the same, and pointing to him their full conviction of the unworthy motives, on which he had made so shameful an arrangement; telling him, in the 17th paragraph of their general letter, of the 4th of February 1779," the nabob's letters of the 25th and 30th "of August, of the 3d of September, and 17th of "November, leave us no doubt of the true design of this extraordinary business being to bring forward Munny Begum, and again to invest "her with improper power and influence, notwith"standing our former declaration, that so great a part of the nabob's allowance had been em"bezzled and misapplied under her superintend"ence." rupt and fraudulent practices of the chief eunuch 66 46 XXIV. That the said Hastings, in the letter aforesaid, in which he so strongly condemns the acts, and so clearly marks out the mischievous effects of the corrupt influence, under which alone the nabob acted, and under which alone, from his known incapacity, and his dependence on the person supported by the said Hastings, he could act, did propose to put all the offices of justice (which on XXVI. That in consequence of the censure and condemnation of the unwarrantable measures of the said Warren Hastings by the court of directors, on the aforesaid and other weighty and substantial grounds, they did order and direct as follows, in the 20th paragraph of the general letter of the same date: "As we deem it for the welfare of "the country, that the office of naib soubadar "be for the present continued, and that this high "office should be filled by a person of wisdom, "experience, and of approved fidelity to the company; and as we have no reason to alter the opinion given of Mahomed Reza Khân, in our "letter of the 24th December 1776, we positively "direct, that you forthwith signify to the nabob, "Mobarek ul Dowla, our pleasure, that Mahomed "Reza Khân be immediately restored to the office "of naib soubadar; and we further direct, that "Mahomed Reza Khân be again assured of the "continuance of our favours, so long as a firm "attachment to the interests of the company, and a proper discharge of the duties of his station, "shall render him worthy of our protection." XXVII. That the aforesaid direction did convey in it such evident and cogent reason, and was so far enforced by justice to individuals, and by regard to the peace and happiness of the natives, as well as by the common decorum to be observed in all the transactions of government, that the said Hastings ought to have yielded a cheerful obedience thereto, even if he had not been by a positive statute, and his relation of servant to the company, bound to that just submission. Yet the said Hastings did, without denying or evading any one of the reasons assigned by the court of directors, or controverting the scandalous motives assigned by them for his conduct, contumaciously refuse obedience to the above positive order, on pretence, that the nabob, who, he had declared it on record “to be as "visible as the light of the sun, is a mere pageant, "and without even the shadow of authority," did dissent from the saine; and he did encourage the said nabob, or rather the eunuchs, the corrupt ministers of Munny Begum, to oppose himself and themselves to the authority of the said court of directors; by which means the arrangement, three times either ratified, or expressly ordered by them, was wholly defeated; the aforesaid corrupt system was continued; Mahomed Reza Khân was not restored to his office; and a lesson was taught to the natives of all ranks, that the declared approbation, the avowed sanction, and the decided authority of the court of directors, were wholly nugatory to their protection against the corrupt influence of their servants. XXVIII. That the said Warren Hastings, on a reconciliation with Mr. Francis, one of the council general, who made it a condition thereof, that certain of the company's orders should be obeyed, and that Mahomed Reza Khân should be restored to his offices, did, a considerable time after, notwithstanding the pretended reluctance of the nabob, and his pretended freedom, make, for his convenience in the said accommodation, the arrangement, which he had unwarrantably and illegally refused to the orders of the court of directors; and did, of his own authority and that of the board, restore Mahomed Reza Khân to his offices. XXIX. That soon after the departure of the said Mr. Francis he did again deprive the said Mahomed Reza Khan of his said offices, and did make several great changes in the constitution of the criminal justice in the said country; and after having, under pretence of the nabob's sufficiency for the management of his own affairs, displaced, without any specifick charge, trial, or enquiry whatsoever, the said Mahomed Reza Khân, he did submit the said nabob to the entire direction, in all parts of his concerns, of a resident of his own nomination, Sir John Doyley, Bart. and did order an account of the most minute parts of his domestick economy to be made out, and to be delivered to the said Sir John Doyley, in the following words, contained in a paper by him intitled, INSTRUCTIONS from the governour-general to the nabob Mobarek ul Dowla, respecting his conduct in the management of his affairs: " you will be pleased to direct your mutta seddies to form an account of the "fixed sums of your monthly expences, such as "servants' wages in the different departments, pensions, and other allowances, as well as of the "estimated amount of variable expences, to be "delivered to Sir John Doyley for my inspection. "I have given such orders to Sir John Doyley as "will enable him to propose to you such reduc❝tions of the pensions and other allowances, and "such a distribution of the variable expences, as "shall be proportionable to the total sum of your monthly income; and I must request you will "conform to it." And he did, in the subsequent articles of his said instructions, order the whole management to be directed by Sir John Doyley, subject to his own directions as aforesaid; and did even direct what company he should keep; and did throw reflections on some persons, in places the nearest to him, as of bad character and base origin-persons, whom he should decline to name as such, "unless he heard, that they still "availed themselves of his goodness to retain the 'places, which they improperly hold near his "person." And he did particularly order the said nabob not to admit any English, but such as the said Sir John Doyley should approve, to his presence; and did repeat the said order in the following peremptory manner: you must forbid any person of that nation to be intruded into your presence, without his introduction." And he did require his obedience in the following authoritative style: "I shall think myself obliged to interfere in another manner, if you neglect it." 66 66 66 XXX. 66 That he the said Warren Hastings did insult the captive condition of the said nabob by informing him, in his imperious instructions aforesaid, that this total, blind, and implicit obedience, in every respect whatsoever, to Sir John Doyley and himself personally, and without any reference to the board, was the very conditions of the compliance "of the governour-general and council with his "late requisition;" which requisition was, that he should enjoy the free and uncontrouled management of his own affairs. And though the said captive did offer, as he the said Hastings himself admits, four lacks of his stipend, at that time reduced to sixteen lacks, for the free use of the remainder, yet he did place him the said nabob in the state of servitude in the said instructions laid down, but a very short time after he had assumed and used the said nabob's independent rights as a ground for refusing to obey the company's orders; and although he has declared, or pretended, on another occasion, which he would have thought similar, that any attempt to limit the household expences 66 XXXI. That the said Warren Hastings did order the said stipend (which was to be distributed, in the minutest particular, according to the said Hastings's personal directions) to be paid monthly, not to any officer of the nabob, but to the said resident Sir John Doyley. And whereas the governourgeneral and council did, on the appointment of Mahomed Reza Khân, according to their duty instruct him, that "he do conform to the orders of "the company, which direct, that an annual ac"count of the nabob's expences be transmitted, through the resident at the durbar, for the in"spection of this board,"-the said Hastings, in making his new establishment in favour of his resident, did wholly omit the said instruction, and did confine the said communication to himself privately. And in fact it does not appear, that any account whatsoever of the disposition of the said large sum, exceeding £.160,000 sterling a year, has been laid before the board, or at least that any such account has been transmitted to the court of directors; and it is not fitting, that any British servant of the company should have the management of any publick money, much less of" so great a sum, without a publick well vouched account of the specifick expenditure thereof. XXXII. That the court of directors did, on the 17th of May 1766, propose certain rules for regulating the correspondence of the resident with the nabob of Bengal, in which they did direct, as a principle for the said regulations, as follows (paragraph 16th): "we would have his correspondence to be carried "on with the select committee through the channel "of the president; he should keep a diary of all XXXIII. That the president and select committee (Lord Clive being then president) did approve of the whole substantial part of the said regulation (the diary excepted); and the principle, in all matters of account, ought to have been strictly adhered to, whatever limitations may have been given to the office of resident. Yet he the said Warren Hastings, in defiance of the aforesaid good rules, orders, and late precedent in conformity to the same, did not only withhold any order for the purpose, but, in order to carry on the business of the said durbar in a clandestine manner for his own purposes, did, as aforesaid, exclude all English from an intercourse with the nabob, who might carry complaints or representations to the board, or the court of directors, of his condition or the conduct of the resident; and did further, to defeat all possible publicity, insinuate to him to give the preference to verbal communication above letters, in the words following of the 9th article of his instructions to the nabob: " although I desire to receive your "letters frequently, yet, as many matters will occur, which cannot be so easily explained by letters as by conversation, I desire, that you will "on such occasions give your orders to him respecting such points as you may desire to "have imparted to me; and I, postponing every "other concern, will give an immediate and the "most satisfactory reply concerning them." Accordingly, no relation whatsoever has been received by the court of directors of the said nabob's affairs; nor any account of the money monthly paid, except from publick fame, which reports, that his affairs are in great disorder, his servants unpaid, and many of them dismissed, and all the Mussulmen dependent on his family in a state of indigence. 66 XVIII. THE MOGUL DELIVERED UP TO THE MAHRATTAS. I. THAT Shâh Allum, the prince, commonly called the Great Mogul, or, by eminence, The King, is, or lately was, in the possession of the ancient capital of Hindostan; and though without any considerable territory, and without a revenue sufficient to maintain a moderate state, he is still much respected and considered; and the custody of his person is eagerly sought by many of the princes in India, on account of the use to be made of his title and authority; and it was for the interest of the East India company, that, while on one hand no wars shall be entered into in support of his pretensions, on the other no steps should be |